READY, SET...GEO! 04 CANTERRA SEEDS 14

Transcription

agADVANCE
The
J O U R N A L F O R G R O W I N G I N N O VAT I O N S
industry leading
carbon offset
aggregation
award winning
data platform
world class
agronomic support
The agAdvance - JOURNAL FOR GROWING INNOVATIONS
innovative and profitable
grain marketing strategies
READY, SET...GEO! 04
Agri-Trend launches new Geo
Solutions Company
CANTERRA SEEDS 14
the road ahead
GREENSEEKER 20
pays dividends after 1 year
PORT OF
CHURCHILL 38
big plans from OmniTRAX
WATCH FOR
GROUP 2 46
carryover this year
cutting-edge
precision farming
strategies
Something new has unfurled at AGRI-TREND
To learn more about our growing service offering, call us today at 1-877-276-7526 or visit www.agritrend.com.
March / April 2010
We’re always thinking about the future, and we know some of the most important developments in the industry are the
innovations being made in Precision Farming. That’s why we’re excited to introduce our newest addition to the group,
AGRI-TREND Geo Solutions Inc. With cutting edge technology and a superior process in place, an AGRI-TREND GeoCoach™ is now standing by to help you reach even further and find more ways to grow than ever before.
AGRI-TREND. Endless Ways to Grow™
PM 40027612
Issue 006 | March/April 2010
$6.95
High-Tech Red Neck 45
Growing Innovations 34
There’s been a big change in the herbicide
landscape for wheat and barley. Tundra™ herbicide
is the newest innovation from Bayer CropScience
that will change the way you think about spraying.
Field ID: QW-763430 | Year: 2008
Crop: Canola
Target Yield: 55 bu/ac
Actual Yield: 58 bu/ac
Harvest Date: September 18, 2008
Grade: No. 1
Cost of Production: $5.85/bushel
If only your
fields could talk.
It’s the first ever pre-mixed grassy and broadleaf
formulation with no additional tank mixing required.
No lost time, no equal.
They can with The AGRI-DATA™ Solution.
Capture. Organize. Analyze. All in one convenient location.
AGRI-TREND Agri-Coaches™, Market-Coaches™, Carbon-Coaches™ and Retail Support Partners use
The AGRI-DATA™ Solution to capture, organize and analyze your farm and field information, to help you
make better decisions and achieve greater profits.
Our award-winning online technology will enable you to:
• Access your data anywhere, anytime
• Track cost of production for each field
• Benefit from easy to use crop planning tools
• Keep traceability records for each field and each year
Standard – Advanced – Professional Editions Available
To get connected to this powerful technology today call Toll Free: 1.866.989.2832 (ATDC)
Win a netbook!
Visit us at www.agridatasolution.com/netbook to enter
BayerCropScience.ca or 1 888-283-6847 or contact your Bayer CropScience representative.
Always read and follow label directions. Tundra™ is a trademark of Bayer. Bayer CropScience is a member of CropLife Canada.
02/10-13455
If you can measure it, you can manage it!
This has been a saying in business schools for years. We are seeing this type of thinking impacting
agriculture at an increasing rate; especially when it comes to GPS/GIS and all things Geo.
Today we are learning how to harness the power of measurement through a wide array of remote and
real time sensing devices which are coupled to GPS logging turning everything we do on the farm into
spatially measurable data.
This data, when coupled with strong experience, can help farmers produce food in a more profitable,
sustainable and environmentally responsible fashion.
Publisher Comment
In this issue you will read about how taking precise measurements of your land can open up more
land for you to farm by creating precision drainage strategies.
We also highlight how, working with remote sensing technologies such as RapidEye satellite imagery,
can help you make better decisions on where to allocate your crop input resources.
This ties into the CEO interview with Canterra’s David Hansen who talks about where he sees the
Canadian seed industry headed and how traceability will play a role in value-added grain and oilseed
production.
We also have done a follow-up story on how the Greenseeker technology is working for Lee Moats on
their Riceton, SK farm.
You need to read the story by Elston Solberg on Connecting the DOTS (you probably should read this
twice), as he talks about nutrient positioning in soils, influence of fertilizer placement and a radical
idea around deep banding.
AND we have a special feature on how OmniTRAX is revitalizing the Port of Churchill. This overlooked
facility is a tremendous asset for agriculture and you will learn more about how this group is planning
on leveraging its strategic position.
Thanks to all of the supporters and partners of The agAdvance. We continue to receive positive
comments about our Journal. I ask you to please send your ideas and comments to
feedback@TheagAdvance.com. If you know of someone who should be getting this Journal please
direct them to www.TheagAdvance.com and have them subscribe there.
Finally, I personally want to wish you the best of success as you get ready to enter into Spring 2010.
As usual, we are faced with several challenges and as usual, those with ag running through our veins
are excited about the upcoming crop year.
Robert Saik, PAg, CAC
CEO And Publisher
The agAdvance | march . april 2010
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Contents
24 •
Ready, Set... GEO
• 04
from Agri-Trend Geo Solutions Inc.
Finding more Land to Farm
RapidEye Imagery
Growing Innovations • 34
37 •
Make Tiger 50CR Sulphur/Sulphate Your Choice • 37
38 •
Port of Churchill • 38
41 •
Serenade - a New Fungicide with a Difference • 41
42 •
Network News • 42
44 •
Think Twice • 44
45 •
High-Tech Red Neck • 45
46 •
Watch for Group 2 • 46
• 20
Pays Dividends in First Year
Start with Confidence
34 •
• 19
from Wolf Trax
Greenseeker
Connecting the DOTS • 32
• 18
from Novozymes
A Leap Ahead in Micronutrient Technology
32 •
• 17
from KegRiver
Increase Phosphate Efficiency
Ron Frost of Marketing Strategies • 30
• 14
David Hansen, CEO of Canterra Seeds
Keg50 - How to benefit from elemental sulphur
30 •
• 13
from Seed Hawk
On the Edge - CEO | Q&A
Would You Buy Your Business? • 29
• 12
from Raven
Roots and the "Hot Zone"
29 •
• 11
from Stoller Enterprisers Ltd.
Slingshot - the Next Step in Precision Farming
From the Ground Up - Farm CEO Q&A • 26
• 10
from Agri-Trend Aggregation Inc.
The Language of the Plant - Part II
26 •
• 09
from Simplot
Carbon Cheques
Rebates: They Cost Growers Time and Money • 25
• 08
Satellite Technology Available NOW
Phosphate Management Pays off Big
25 •
• 06
The Power of Precision Techology
Early Seed Nutrition Enhances Seedling Vigor • 24
from Alpine
• 23
from MANA Crop Protection
Greg Appleyard President of Cattleland Feedyards
from Meyers Norris Penny
from Agri-Trend Marketing Inc.
from Agri-Trend Aggregation Inc.
Finger on the Pulse of Innovation
from Tiger 50CR
Positioning for a World of Opportunities
from UAP Canada
Welcome to the Agri-Trend Network
Before You Tank Mix Fungicides with Herbicides
Meet Shaun Haney
Carryover this Year
Dow AgroSciences
{
The Black Leaf icon on a page of the agAdvance will denote the page as an Agri-Torial.
This key feature is an opportunity for industry contributors to provide more technical
information than would otherwise be conveyed in a display ad. Content on these Agri-Torial
pages has been provided by the company represented and any inquires or comments about the
feature should be directed to the contacts of the participating company.
}
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Publisher : Robert Saik : 403.391.0772
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3
Elston Solberg (left) and Warren Bills connect with
precision at Blair’s Fertilizer Mega Plot 2009
[ Ready, Set... GEO! ]
One of the Agri-Trend Group of Companies
Agri-Trend launches new Geo company!
Agri-Trend Geo Solutions Inc.
(ATGSI) is the latest addition to The
Agri-Trend Group of Companies.
Headed by President Warren Bills
and based in Calgary, Agri-Trend Geo
Solutions Inc. is business collaboration between Agri-Trend Inc and
GeoFarm Solutions Inc.
The aim is to deploy a Network of
well as Agri-Retailers (crop input and
equipment retailers), Agri-Industry
(fertilizer, crop protection and seed
companies) and farmers who are
looking to integrate GPS and/or GIS
strategies into their operations.
“This is when farming gets fun!”
explains Warren Bills, President of
ATGSI. “By taking high quality tech
{ The vision for ATGSI is essentially “All things GEO". }
Geo-Coaches™ to offer technical
Geo-support to the other Agri-Trend
Coaches (Agri-Coaches™, MarketCoaches™, Carbon-Coaches™) as
4
products, strategic processes, and
motivated Geo-Coach™ specialists,
we find the best way to identify,
treat, and prescribe solutions
for managing in-field variability
that make economic sense.”
Agri-Trend has been building its
Precision Management Process™
(PMP) for over 5 years. Offered as
a “shoulder to shoulder” strategy
between Agri-Coaches and GeoCoaches, this professional level of
precision ag service will continue
to be offered through The AgriTrend Network. Applications of
VRT fertilizer, pesticides, seed,
drainage management planning,
intensive Soil Audits™ using Veris
Technology, and even simple spot
treatment applications are all a
part of this professional service
from Agri-Trend Coaches™.
The formation of Agri-Trend Geo
Solutions Inc. will mean a few new
things for farmers and retails:
1.2.
3.
More feet on the ground. As the Geo-Coach™ Network expands, expect to see more passionate people wanting
to remove technology anxiety from your business and find better efficiencies with you to allocate resources.
(Watch Network News in The agAdvance to see new Geo-Coach additions).
Better products – More options. ATGSI has expanded services that include 3 levels of
imagery options including high resolution Real Shot™ aerial imagery and high resolution
satellite imagery from RapidEye. Launching a drainage management program and
expanded Soil Audit™ services that include VERIS technology, ATGSI is geared up with
the right tools for finding the yield limiting factors on your fields year after year.
Better Online Tools through The Agri-Data Solution™. As ATGSI
Geo-Coaches™ and Retails collect, store, view, and interact with
more and more spatial data, the need to support the data in a
central backed up location accessed by everybody on the team
will be of even greater importance. Geospatial capabilities in
Standard, Advanced, and Professional versions of The Agri-Data
Solution™ will be added to make sure everyone can spend less time e-mailing and organizing, and more time deciding on turning the information into decisions.
Rob Saik, founder of The AgriTrend Group of Companies, is
excited about this latest addition to
the Agri-Trend family saying, “We
have been developing our Precision
Farming products for over 5 years.
As we worked through the Precision
Management Process™, it became
evident that a new organization,
focused on Geo support was the
way to go. It all came together when
Warren agreed to head the new
company.”
While Geo-Coaches™ do not make
recommendations, they offer three
levels of service that deliver technical
services that support farmers and
agronomists.
At the professional level, this means
working with your Agri-Coach™
employing The Precision Management Process™, at the standard and
advanced levels, this may mean
doing your own agronomy, sampling
and recs, or linking a Geo-Coach™
program with your own agronomic
service provider.
Elston Solberg, President of AgriTrend Agrology is excited for this
shoulder to shoulder effort, “We see
the work we do as Agri-Coaches,
being significantly enhanced by the
support of the Geo-Coaches. There
really is a big bang that happens
when you harness the agronomic
expertise of an Agri-Coach with the
technology passion of a Geo-Coach.
Farmers are the beneficiaries of
having dual experts working together
to increase yields and profits through
technology integration”.
No matter your situation, the flexible
format and scaled pricing strategy
through ATGSI programs can find
value in your business.
“It seems cliché, but there isn’t a
silver bullet in agriculture”, explains
Warren Bills. “Precision agriculture
and variable rate technologies do
pay, but they need to be designed
around a sound agronomic strategy
and with a vision that matches yours.
This is what we do.”
As we launch a core business
around “All things Geo”, we are
looking for Geo-Coaches™, Retail
partners, and farmers who want to
extract the value and return from the
programs.
If this is you, make sure to give
us call to learn more and set up a
time to chat. We’d love to hear from
you.
Warren Bills, President
e: wbills@agritrend.com
c: 403- 874-3848
www.agritrend.com/geo
5
Geo-Coaches work to find more
land by developing strategic
draining plans.
By Warren K. Bills
Farmers can
harness the power
of precision
techology to open
up more land to
farm... for as little
as $25/acre
6
Finding More Land to Farm
What if someone said to you, “I’ll sell you 30
acres of good farmable land just like your own, right
next to your own for $25/acre?”. For most of us we
wouldn’t need a calculator to figure that this would
be a good return on our investment in the short
term.
The fact is, this opportunity does exist today.
The issue is field drainage – the opportunity is
getting the water out of the field and opening up
more land to farm. Seems easy, but is it?
One of the first mistakes that can be made around
field drainage is not knowing where to start and
then “starting”. How many times have we taken the
blade or ditcher out to the field and started makin’
tracks, later to find out that the water didn’t go
anywhere? Gathering accurate information about
the topography of the field is crucial to a successful
drainage plan. Let’s just make sure we aren’t trying
to make water go up-hill in the first place.
RTK recorded elevation data is required for
a proper drainage plan. RTK provides us with
vertical accuracy that can be used to create a digital
elevation model of the land. Simon Knutson,
AGRI-TREND Geo-Coach™ holds a Masters in GIS
and operates AGRI-TREND’s precision drainage
program with brother-in-law, Joel Classen.
Simon describes the best way to start the
process of field drainage – “start by looking at the
depressions. For each depression over a threshold
size we use the various map layers to determine
the best way to drain it. It is important to try and
follow the natural watersheds and flow directions
of the field - we see lots of examples where farmers
have cut ditches that don't follow these natural
routes, in most cases they have cut a deep ditch to
the closest edge of the field (which is often uphill),
and the result is a ditch that actually takes up more
surface area than the single depression it drains.
Following the natural watersheds and flow routes
generally results in the best drainage, and requires
the least amount of earth to be moved. Often just
cutting a short 6" deep channel is all that is required
to connect a depression with an existing drainage
channel.”
Accurately following a drainage recommendation
is just as important as having an accurate plan.
Technology such as John Deere’s Surface Water Pro,
or AgGPS Ditchpro are becoming more common
and more user friendly in the equipment for
farmers. Make sure that you calculate and research
the options for implementation of the drainage
program as you budget for the program.
“Having more acres that are growing crop than
you did the year before seems to be an obvious
way to improve profit”, explains Warren Bills,
President of Agri-Trend Geo Solutions Inc.
“I’ve seen our drainage reports sent to farmers
with ratings and recommendations that suggest
anywhere between 5 to 75 acres subject so
standing water in wet years. This is significant.
We can’t control the weather and the rain, but
we can control how our fields react to it.”
Having water saturated soils suffocates plant
roots and as Agri-Coach, Terry Aberhart explains,
after drainage improvements have been made, the
next efficiency to be created could be variable rate
application of nutrients. “ These areas will have
very low yield potential and in most cases have
very high levels of nitrates and other
nutrients, because there is not
enough crop being grown to
utilize these nutrients. In most
cases, the first action that
should be taken is to see if
the drainage issue can be
improved. The next step
is to make sure you are
not adding to the salt
or sodium issues
by applying too much fertilizer that would add to
the problem. In many cases we can see these areas
improve in yield over time by reducing nutrients
that are compounding the problem and focusing on
nutrients that will help the crop deal with stress and
develop a strong rooting system. In most cases
these areas need higher seeding rates to
account for increased mortality rates.”
So if you are looking this spring for
less water “run-on” and more “runoff ”, work diligently and accurately
towards a sustainable
drainage program. Done
properly, this will yield
more bushels, more land,
and more dollars for your
farm operation.
Measuring ditch and culvert
height is important to make
sure the water drained off the
field can actually leave.
A drainage report summarizes
key points and issue about
the field. Note in this report
that 28 acres are subject to
standing water.
7
0
RapidEye Imagery
Satellite technology available NOW for farmers!
By Warren K. Bills
144
0
36
72
100
144
Between 0.0 and 0.5 kg/m2
RapidEye biomass
map of a canola field in
northern France from late
February 2009
8
The 2010 growing season is here and for the
second year, Agri-Trend is excited to work with
German based satellite company, RapidEye AG
as the National Marketing Partner for Canadian
Agriculture products. In 2009, Agri-Trend
offered RapidEye products to Canadian farmers
for monitoring in-season growth patterns and
vegetative density. This high resolution satellite
imagery was utilized for simple and valuable reasons
such as “better guided sampling and scouting” and
into the full-fledged precision agriculture practice of
variable rate technology.
We can’t forget that this
superior satellite constellation
is also capturing images of other
farmer’s fields around the globe.
These farmers are just like us - they
grow canola and wheat and are looking
for better ways to maximize production
and better allocate their resources. As this
article describes, two particular applications
for RapidEye products have successfully been
researched and discovered in the country of France.
S2B (Société des Services aux Betteraviers),
a division of CGB (Confédération Générale
des planteurs de Betterave) works in the French
Agriculture market and provides farmers with
information through their VISIOPLANE platform
in the form of maps to help increase crop yields
and optimize fertilizer applications. From 2008
to 2009, S2B and RapidEye successfully ran two
pilot projects involving the recommendation of
Between
0.8 and
1.1 kg/m2 at different intervals in France.
nitrogen
fertilization
2
Eric
Director
of S2B explains why
Between
1.1Renaud,
and 1.4 kg/m
the
use
of
RapidEye
AG
imagery
was important
for the projects. “Mainly due to its high revisit
capabilities and its red edge spectral band, the
2
Between
2.0 andsystem
3.0 kg/m
RapidEye
permits
the generation of
up-to-date satellite images. The generated maps
provide useful information on the chlorophyll
content of plants, therefore helping our target
group to better plan for fertilization.“
The project ran involved two main objectives
for S2B and RapidEye AG – 1) The determination
of Biomass for Canola and 2) The Determination
of Chlorophyll Content for Wheat. RapidEye
successfully developed biomass maps for S2B to
support nitrogen fertilization recommendations.
Throughout the duration of the project, European
skies were frequently cloudy. However, one
of the key benefits of owning a constellation
of five identical Earth observation satellites is
that RapidEye could revisit these regions daily,
increasing the likelihood of capturing areas with
lower cloud cover levels. In June 2009, RapidEye
successfully developed chlorophyll maps for S2B
to support nitrogen fertilization recommendations.
RapidEye's competitive advantage is its red edge
spectral band which provides specific information
about the chlorophyll content of plants.
Conclusions about the vitality of the vegetation in
an observed area can be made with this information.
Currently, the results of the pilot project are being
analyzed before entering the wheat market in 2010.
The beautiful thing about today’s world is how
this information and knowledge that is gained on
opposite sides of the world can be leveraged for us
in Canada to help us improve. By working closely
with RapidEye, we will learn if such knowledge
and application can be applied to our soils and
situations in Canada like it can be in France.
For information regarding the 2010 RapidEye
Satellite Imagery program visit www.agritrend.
com/geo, or contact your Agri-Coach, Geo-Coach,
or AGRI-TREND at 1-877-CROPLAN (xxxx).
0
59
118
177
236
60 to 70 CHL
70 to 76 CHL
76 to 82 CHL
82 to 88 CHL
88 to 94 CHL
94 to 100 CHL
100 to 110 CHL
RapidEye chlorophyll
map of a wheat field in
northern France from
mid May 2009
0
59
118
177
236
60 to 70 CHL
Phosphate management
pays off BI G
Phosphate
with
Growers must evaluate every crop input for bottom-line effect. Phosphorus
fertilizer with AVAIL continues to be a
sound investment, says Terry Tindall
PhD, crop research manager for J.R.
Simplot in Boise, Idaho.
Recent university research across
multiple crops and various application periods continues to demonstrate
both yield and bottom-line advantages
using AVAIL Phosphorus Fertilizer
Enhancer. AVAIL helps ensure crops
get the most out of applied phosphorus fertilizers.
AVAIL: Simply incredible science
While the science behind AVAIL is
complex, the idea is simple. Certain
chemical elements in the soil interfere with a plant’s ability to absorb
phosphate. By minimizing the adverse effect of these elements, AVAIL
increases the potential for more
phosphorus to be absorbed by plants
root systems.
Simply put, AVAIL means more
phosphate for your crops and more
yield potential for you.
Prairie barley benefits from AVAIL
Four site years of trials at the University of Alberta indicate a 16 percent
yield increase in barley using AVAIL,
compared to untreated checks. At
$2.60/bushel, the eight bu/acre gain
provided a Benefit to Cost ratio of $7.00
earned for every $1.00 spent on AVAIL.
“This is the B:C ratio that originally
piqued Simplot’s interest in AVAIL
several years ago. AVAIL consistently
gives growers excellent returns on
their investment, and provides the
phosphate uptake insurance that is
so important in crop development and
yield results,“ says Tindall.
Garth Donald, lead agronomist and
VRT specialist for DynAgra, says the
Alberta crop input dealer began using
AVAIL with phosphate applications a
couple of years ago.
“Our AVAIL sales have grown, as our
customers see the value of improved
phosphate uptake into their grain and
oilseed crops. DynAgra ('09 Bayer
Crop Science, Retailer of the Year)
sees new fertilizer efficiency products
like AVAIL as a key to NPK applications. We’ll continue to use AVAIL and
provide this phosphate advantage to
our growers,“ says Donald.
Boost winter wheat
production
A winter wheat study
in Belleville, Kansas,
showed substantial
benefits during the
July 2009 harvest. The
AVAIL and phosphorus
fertilizer study was
overseen by Barney
Gordon PhD, of Kansas
State University. Soils
had a pH of 6.0 and
phosphorus levels of 15 ppm.
Potato yield increase
A 2008 potato study in Idaho also
showed a significant Benefit to Cost
ratio for growers using AVAIL.
Jeff Stark PhD from the University of
Idaho directed the study on Russet
Burbank potatoes grown in sandy
loam soil having a pH level of 8.3 and
phosphorus level of 21 ppm.
In the trial, acreage treated with 160
pounds of phosphorus produced 207
hundredweight (cwt) per acre of potatoes, returning a gross of $1,656 per
acre. Acreage treated with the same
AVAIL Barley Trials ‘09
U of A - Edmonton, AB
Trial Coordinator: Dick Purveen
Trial Data: Mean - 4 trial years
MAP vs. MAP w/AVAIL
P205/ac.
Bu./ac.
GSP (MAP)
30
50
$130.00
GSP + AVAIL
(+$3.00/ac)
30
58
$150.80 (=20.80)
Using standard application rates,
wheat treated with 20 pounds of
phosphorus yielded 85.4 bushels per
acre. Crops treated with 40 pounds of
phosphorus yielded 88.8 bushels per
acre.
“When we added AVAIL to the mix, we
saw significant gains in production.
For acreage treated with 20 and 40
pounds of phosphorus plus AVAIL, we
saw yields of 89.6 and 95.5 bushels
per acre, respectively,” says Tindall.
“That translates to an AVAIL advantage of $20.70 per acre – or a 9:1
Benefit to Cost ratio on the 20 pound P
treatment. The 40 pound P treatment
with AVAIL had an improved return of
$32.05, and a grower Benefit to Cost
ratio of 7:1.”
The benefits of providing more phosphate uptake into the plant during
its early development showed the P
nutrient benefit. AVAIL did its job, and
provided yield results for the grower.
Gross Return/ac.
@ $2.60/bu.
Benefit: Cost
w/AVAIL
7:1
amount of phosphorus plus AVAIL
(+$30/acre) produced 251 cwt per
acre of potatoes, returning a gross of
$2,008 per acre.
“Using the phosphorus fertilizer
enhancer put an additional $352 per
acre return in the grower’s pocket,”
says Tindall. ”That’s a Benefit to Cost
ratio of 11:1, an outstanding return in
anyone’s books!”
Simplot is proud of its reputation as
a provider of superior fertilizers and
inputs to today’s agriculture. AVAIL
joins a long line of outstanding products. Simplot sells AVAIL products
through its fertilizer dealer network
throughout the Prairies.
Call your nearest dealership now
to find how AVAIL can improve your
phosphate nutrition program, or visit
www.chooseavail.com.
9
[ Carbon Cheques…just in time for spring! ]
As this issue of The agAdvance hits
the farm kitchen table, many farmers
will also be getting another piece of
mail…another cheque - from the 5th
block of Carbon credits transacted by
Agri-Trend Aggregation Inc (ATAI).
“We are very pleased with the progress
we have made with The Soil Carbon
Offset Program™ (SCOP)”, says ATAI
President, Bill Dorgan, “With each
block our SCOP process becomes
more refined and we are able to
deliver great value to our farm
customers.”
Element Markets LLC of Houston,
Texas makes equity investment in
Agri-Trend Aggregation Inc.
“The inclusion of Element Markets as
a partner of Agri-Trend Aggregation
means that our firm is well positioned
to offer continued leadership in the
field of greenhouse gas and carbon
offset aggregation for agriculture,”
said Robert Saik, CEO of ATAI.
“As this market unfolds, we value
the role Element Markets will play
in expanding our business across
Canada and into the US. We feel
it is very important to our farmer
customers that we link ourselves
to a partner that has strong ties in
Washington, Ottawa and into the
energy sector.”
Currently, Agri-Trend Aggregation
Inc. operates in Alberta, working with
farmers using a tillage protocol. This
10
protocol documents carbon sequestration in soils through advanced farm
management practices. ATAI has
aggregated more agricultural carbon
offsets than any other single entity and
has returned significant payouts to
Alberta farmers.
Customers purchasing carbon offsets
from ATAI include those from the fertilizer, oil & gas, chemicals and cement
sectors. ATAI also has a presence in
Saskatchewan through a network of
Carbon-Coaches™ in anticipation
of the passage of a Saskatchewan
climate change bill in 2010.
“We are Canada’s most trusted
supplier of agricultural offsets to the
Large Final Emitter community and a
prominent and well-established player
in terms of volumes transacted,” said
Dorgan.
“The addition of Element Markets
as a strategic partner reaffirms our
commitment to operate our business
in a transparent and professional
manner that yields tremendous value
to farmers and meets the needs of
Large Final Emitters. The offset system
in Alberta continues to mature with the
number of offset projects, the volume
of credits and the number of market
participants increasing every year”.
contracts that producers are being
exposed to. Fee structures are, in
many cases, not entirely transparent.
There are "splits" ranging from 60 to 85
percent accruing to the producer, but
some contracts have trailing fees that
refer to verification costs and future
audit costs, which would be borne by
the producer.
ATAI has structured its contract with
it's clients to be as transparent as can
be made, with full disclosure of any
and all current and future cost, clarity
as to the term - one year at a time,
clear termination options if required,
and clear risk mitigation for our
producer partners.
Please contact ATAI and we'll have
a knowledgeable "Carbon-Coach"
visit you in person to discuss these
important issues, instead of trying
to understand these issues over the
phone or fax.
Bill Dorgan, President
Agri-Trend Aggregation Inc.
p. 403.608.0992
e. bdorgan@atai.ca
www.atai.ca
Watch for Contract Confusion
The other dominant issue that we
want to make our clients aware of
is the large and varied number of
The Language of the Plant - Part II
Epigenetics
There is a new word that growers,
consultants, and research professionals are going to have to add to their
vocabulary. It is called: EPIGENETICS.
This new word has just been recently
recognized by plant physiologists.
The implications are that when you
change the expression of a plant cell,
this expression is passed on to all
daughter cells, granddaughter cells, etc. In
other words, when you
change the genetic
expression of a cell
it is passed on to all
cells for the rest of that
plants life.
An example of epigenetics playing
a role in cropping practices today
could possibly be the earlier planting
of wheat into cooler soils with favourable yield results. The wheat plant will
then develop with shorter internodes
than the same variety that is planted
in warmer soils with less lodging
and the yield potential is generally
higher. Farmers generally know that
the earlier that they plant, the higher
the potential yield will be. Evidently,
epigenetics is easier to instill in plant
cells when the plant is young.
This is the reason why applying
nutrients and other growth enhancing compounds as seed treatments
can have such a profound effect upon
crop yields. The epigenetic effect on
the young plant, as it germinates, may
be greater than when applied as a
foliar spray to the plant when the plant
is older. The role of foliar applied
nutrients and stimulant type products
may be more important in protecting this new genetic potential that
has been developed in the very early
stages of plant growth.
Stoller's research at various Universities consistently show that products
applied as seed treatments return
the greatest dollar value per dollar
invested of any treatment, when trying
to enhance yields of
any crop. This applies
to corn, soybeans,
wheat, cotton, canola
and other crops. The
evidence for the epigenetic effect has been
reinforced through
seed treatment studies
conducted globally by Stoller with a
patented product from Stoller known
commercially in the USA market as
Bio-Forge®.
Jerry Stoller is the President and CEO of the Stoller
Group. In agri-business for over 40 years, Stoller is
dedicated to helping producers enhance crops by
maximizing the genetic expresion of plants.
potential that occurs naturally within
each living plant cell and the unlocking of more of this potential will be one
of the answers to very substantial crop
yield increases in the near future.
When referring to epigenetics, we
are referring to the plant’s ability to
give greater expression of the full
genetic potential that it contains. At
the present time, most growers are
only realizing in crop production 30 to
The impact of this new plant treat35 per cent of the potential of the DNA
ment can be observed in the color
that is combined
and quality of the corn
from the mother and
grain, the germina“...growers are only
father genetics and
tion of the corn seed,
realizing 30 to 35 percent
contained in this
and the vigorous plant
single plant.
of the potential yield...
growth of the seedlings when the seed
each plant cell contains.”
You are going to
is planted compared
read more and
against the seed that
more
about
the
permanent
change
has not been treated with Bio-Forge
that occurs within the plant when it is
the previous year.
effectively treated in order to greater
expression of the power of each cell.
Stoller is dedicated to helping producThis power will steadily pass onto the
ers realize of more of the potential
other cells in the plant for the rest of
yield that the DNA in each plant cell
the plants life. You are going to read
contains. Some very exciting discovermore and more about this topic in the
ies are being made today that appear
future.
to be unlocking more of the genetic
Stoller, headquartered in Houston,
Texas, is actively researching and
developing plant performance
products in more than 50 countries.
For more information, visit
www.StollerCanada.com.
11
Raven Slingshot – the next step in precision farming
SlingshotTM, a suite of wireless products and services, centers around
wireless connectivity. It delivers
advanced RTK correction and highspeed Internet right to your tractor,
sprayer, swather and combine cab.
The Slingshot Field Hub is a wireless
modem, connected to a cell phone
wireless network.
“We’re compatible with all major wireless networks in North America. We’re
not tied to one carrier, we can work
across multiple wireless carriers,” says Ryan Molitor,
Marketing Supervisor,
Applied Technology
Division, Raven
Industries.
distances than traditional networks.
This eliminates the ‘line-of-sight’
requirement for traditional RTK
signals.
“Limitations to signal reception,
like trees, hills, structures or other
obstructions, are now irrelevant,”
says Molitor. “We can increase in-field
efficiency with data management, and
maximize what we can do with an RTK
signal.”
Cell phone
coverage issues
“When the Field Hub
is mounted in a cab, two
antennas are added to the
cab roof. Those antennas are quite
important,” says Molitor.
“A lot of farmers we talk to say in a lot
of the fields they work in, they can’t
make a cell phone call. The Field Hub
modem is industrial grade and
these antennas help increase cell
phone range. It’s much better than
the consumer grade hand-held cell
phones we typically use. It can get the
data signal much better than a handheld cell phone.”
Slingshot RTK
With the same Field Hub and cell
phone network, Slingshot can
deliver an RTK correction signal to
a tractor or machine, from longer
12
Slingshot Online
High-speed Internet access is
available in your cab, in the field.
Farmers can check weather,
commodity prices, emails – do all their
Internet activities – out in the field.
Vehicle observation tool
“If you are a large farmer and have
a few different machines in the field,
you can physically see where one or
all machines are at. It will bring up
a Google Map style of image and
managers can see if the machine is
working in a field, idle or transporting
home,” says Molitor.
Product support
“We can have our technical support
team or dealer staff remotely access
a field computer. If an operator has
a question, isn’t sure how to run
something, or something is
not working right, they
can make a phone call,
and the tech support
team can access
that field computer
to see exactly what
the operator is seeing.
Then they can walk him
through the steps to fix his
problem,” says Molitor.
Slingshot will be a farmer/dealer
relationship. Dealers will have a
base station set up and farmers will
subscribe to the service through them.
Dealers are already established in
Canada, with more expected in 2010.
Raven Canada
“It has the ability to transfer data
between the office and the field. As
soon as you’re done with a job, the
field you’re doing can be closed
out and the file sent to your office
computer,” says Molitor. “If desired,
office staff can then send a new
prescription map out to the operator
for a new field, without ever having to
return to the yard.”
800-793-2155
www.RavenSlingshot.com
seed
Fertilizer Band
A low-pressure water system was then
used to wash away soil from the root
system of a canola plant. These plants
showed high numbers of primary,
secondary and fibrous roots in the
side-banded fertilizer zone.
These trials prove that the single
sideband and Twin Wing knives are
a safe, efficient way to deliver all the
nutrients plants need. Not only did
the roots quickly grow into the
fertilizer band, they proliferated and
developed a net of fibrous roots in
and below it.
The secondary roots of a young canola plant can be seen growing down and to the right, directly towards the
fertilizer band.
Roots AND the “hot ZoNe”
by Chris Bettschen, PAg
There’s a myth proposed by some in
the agricultural machinery industry.
They say a single fertilizer band
creates a “Hot Zone” in the soil. With
legendary Seed Hawk placement,
no such “Hot Zone” exists. With more
than 1,200 seeders sold and used in
Western Canada, Seed Hawk knows
the truth.
In the summer of 2009, Seed Hawk
set out to demonstrate how its single
sideband and Twin Wing™ openers
place fertilizer in the optimum position
for the seed: close enough to the
seed row to be available when the
plant can start taking up nutrients,
yet far enough away to provide a safe
germination zone for the seedling.
Seed Hawk’s precision placement of
seed and fertilizer deliver excellent
emergence and increased yields.
They decided to field-test root
interaction with the fertilizer band.
To this point, most studies completed
on root and fertilizer interaction
bypassed field-testing. Conducted
in laboratories or growth chambers,
these tests provide some information,
but field-testing is more relevant
and realistic.
All tests were performed using
full-size Seed Hawk seeders in
southeast Saskatchewan. This area
is in the black soil zone on loam soil,
and receives adequate moisture in
the spring. Canola and barley seeded
with high rates of fertilizer were used
to evaluate Seed Hawk’s system.
The initial test viewed early root
interaction with the fertilizer band. The
seed row was cut away vertically until
a seed was reached. A clear plate
was inserted in the seed row, and soil
was backfilled against it. Over several
weeks, the soil was pulled away and
the roots were evaluated.
In canola fields seeded with the
two knife, single sideband opener,
taproots grew into the fertilizer band.
In barley fields, roots grew and
proliferated in the fertilizer band. The
results from the Twin Wing seed knife
test were the same. No “Hot Zone”!
The second evaluation looked at roots
of canola plants at the four-leaf stage.
Canola roots are very receptive to
phosphate and when they encounter
a source, like the band from a Seed
Hawk, they proliferate in that area.
Increased root mass equals an uptake
of water and other nutrients. The fields
in this test received a fertilizer blend of
75 lbs of anhydrous ammonia, 25 lbs
of phosphate and 15 lbs of sulfur. Soil
was cut away from the seed row until
the rooting zone was reached.
Fertilizer Band
A low-pressure water system was used to wash away
soil from the seed row. The exposed roots showed an
affinity for the area in and below the fertilizer band.
seed
Fertilizer Band
A young barley plant with an expanding fibrous root
system. The roots are proliferating in and below the
fertilizer band, to the right of the plant.
To download a presentation on
these tests or other information,
please visit the downloads section of
www.seedhawk.com.
®
Seed Hawk is a registered trademark and ™Twin Wing is a
trademark of Seed Hawk Inc. 9022 12.09
13
On the Edge - CEO | Q&A
Chris Paterson of
The agAdvance sat down
with David Hansen, CEO
of Canterra Seeds
Canterra Seeds’
CEO David
Hansen shares his
thoughts on the
Canadian seed
industry.
QA
Canterra Seeds
Growing Opportunities
David’s unique perspective comes from more
than 30 years of successful seed and agribusiness
marketing experience. He has seen rapeseed
replaced by canola, stronger genetics and hybrids
introduced, herbicide tolerance and the GMO
controversy, and now the seemingly unlimited
potential of trait stacking and other blockbuster
breakthroughs. He recently spent five years in
China, managing the cotton seed business for Delta
& Pine Land Co. David became CEO of Canterra
Seeds in October of 2009.
First things first, many in Canada envision an ox
pulling a plow, and someone handplanting a rice
paddy when we think of Chinese agriculture. Is
that an accurate perspective?
Yes it is for a lot of China in the Central and
Eastern regions, but in the West and Northern
Provinces there are some very large farms that have
access to some of the same types of farm equipment
we see here in North America. What is interesting,
is the farmers in China share similar challenges with
their counterparts in Canada. The younger generation is not interested in the lifestyle of their parents,
and often head off to the cities to pursue a higher
education and the promise of a better way of life.
The Chinese farmer also relies on off farm income
to help feed his family, which means the very old
and very young are left to manage the farm work.
14
Now back to North America, and specifically
the seed industry. Looking out four to five years,
what might be different about the seed industry,
and what are the biggest trend drivers causing
that?
I think the development of traits will be a major
driver with most crop types. Private companies will
play a much larger role in the varietal development
of cereals, much like we have seen with canola
varietal development. The seed industry will also
be driven by the demands of the end consumer, not
just by agronomic traits. All of this could lead to
change in the seed industry in Canada, and the way
seed is marketed and managed.
There has been a lot of talk about the need
for food traceability and “identity preserved”
production contracts for a number of years now,
is it more than just talk?
If so, how will that impact the seed industry,
and the farm customers of the seed industry? In
actuality, seed growers have been doing this for
years as a basic part of their operations. The rest of
the industry has talked about this, but is challenged
by the nature of our bulk commodity handling
systems. The ability of the end user to agree to the
product’s value and how this net value is shared
amongst the stakeholders is also problematic.
However, traceability has made good progress
with food processing companies and the brewing
industry. Ultimately, it comes down to economics.
The tools and technologies are available, but at the
end of the day it needs to make sense for the entire
chain.
GMO is a buzzword in the consumer media
these days, especially in Europe. Do you
think education will eventually make these
technologies acceptable, or will there always be
a substantial market opportunity for non-GMO
production?
The seed and biotech industry did not fully
appreciate the reluctance of consumers to accept
the introduction of food and feed produced via non
traditional plant breeding methods. Education and
information is always the key. Our education
efforts need to be persistent and ongoing. We all
want to be able to make informed decisions when
it comes to the food we consume, the crops we
plant, and so on. Simple economics and the
demand for more food will ultimately drive the
necessity for the continued growth of GM crops.
There will continue to be markets where GM crops
are not accepted, but as consumers gain confidence
in the value and benefits these crops provide, these
markets will shrink.
Crop yields have more than doubled during your
career, due to both genetics and better agronomy.
If you were to draw that trend line, can it continue
at the same angle, or are we approaching yield
ceilings soon?
I have no reason to believe that this trend will not
continue. Much of the genetic gain we have seen
can be attributed to hybridization and to improved
agronomic practices. As an example, when we consider the effect that early crosses had on corn yields
in the 1940’s, and the yield gains that have been
achieved since that time, we can expect corn yields
to continue to show marked improvement. Who
knows what the limit will be? When you couple this
with the introduction of new traits that allow the
plants to naturally resist pests and fungal diseases,
stand better, and use less water and nitrogen, one
has to assume the yield potential is still very much
an unknown. The same can be said for most hybrid
crops such as canola, sunflowers, sorghum and
sugar beets.
The one defining factor of course, is how much
effort and resources the industry, be it private or
public, is willing to invest. Without the investment
the yield ceilings will be seen much sooner.
How will this year’s Triffid flax discovery affect
the seed industry?
It is clear that there will be a major long term
impact on the flax industry, but it’s yet unclear how
it will also affect other crops and the seed industry
as a whole. Essentially this is a trade issue more than
it is a food safety issue. The analytical tools being
installed may see that we avoid similar situations in
other crops, building confidence in our seed quality
on the world market. However, there is a significant
cost to these tools that must be managed.
There are many mergers and acquisitions
these days, of farms, retailers, and the large
manufacturers. How does this consolidation
affect the seed industry?
There will definitely be fewer and larger players
at all levels and competition will be steeper. The
whole seed distribution system will be evaluated
and rationalized as different companies
will have different approaches to the
market. Partnering well will be
very important for trait access as
well as bundling opportunities.
If you were King or Dictator of
Canada for a day, what would
you change about the regulatory
system that governs the seed
industry?
Overall, our seed regulatory
system does what it was
meant to do. There
have been a lot of
improvements in recent
years to make the system
more expedient and
predictable, especially
regarding canola. In
my opinion, noncanola crops would
benefit from similar
changes to the variety
registration process.
Canadian farmers can
be at a disadvantage
to their US and global
counterparts, because
they cannot access
advancements in
plant breeding in a
more timely manner.
The regulatory
15
system in Canada is focused on protecting the
farmer and the industry as a whole, with a focus on
disease, quality and certain agronomic traits. There
is an argument to be made that this model may not
be serving the grower and the industry as well as
what some would like to think.
In Canada, where do seed genetics for new
varieties originate from?
Genetics are accessed from both public and
private breeding institutions, domestically and
internationally. Canola used to be dependent on the
public sector, but today is developed primarily by
the private sector, which works globally to source
germplasm. Public breeders play a larger role in
the development of many other crops in Canada,
though private breeding companies may be greater
contributors in the future. Canterra Seeds partners
with both the public breeding system in addition
to a large number of domestic and international
private breeding companies For example, our
new wheat variety Glenn, originated from NDSU,
while Bentley barley is from the Lacombe Barley
Research Group.
Tell me what is unique about Canterra Seeds as a
seed company.
Canterra Seeds was founded in 1996 by 9
entrepreneurial seed growers from the three Prairie
Provinces. They believed there was an
opportunity to source a great
depth of genetics, as
well as to help steer
varietal development by
developing relationships
with end-use customers.
Today that group has expanded
to include more than 200 shareholders,
including independent seed growers
and retailers. However, our vision
hasn’t changed – to be a leader in the
Canadian seed industry.
16
A major milestone was reached when Canterra
Seeds launched its own research and development
program in 2008. This gives us the ability to screen
material that we source from international breeding
programs. Glenn wheat and Triactor oats are
examples of varieties that we identified that would
provide value for our shareholders and farmers
here in Canada. Today our portfolio consists of
more than 75 commercialized seed varieties and
hybrids, and our R&D pipeline guarantees that we
will continue to provide new and more competitive
products for the future
Looking forward, Canterra Seeds is uniquely
positioned to be part of the evolution of the
seed industry. As new technologies and genetics
are commercialized, breeders and technology
developers will be looking for a Canadian seed
company to partner with. A number of factors,
including our vast seed grower network, ensure
that we have the ability to penetrate the market
rapidly and effectively, as well as meet the needs of
end-users.
Regarding Canterra Seeds, does the way the
company will make money look any different five
years from now?
Yes, I think it will, as we strive to participate
at a higher level upstream with plant breeding
partners as well as be more directly involved with
downstream food processing, consumer specific
strategies, and IP programs.
Now back to China, how long until Canterra
Seeds is selling there?
We are very focused on the North American
market. Our U.S. subsidiary, Meridian Seeds,
provides us with access to the U.S. We do have
opportunities in some international markets, but
China is not on the radar screen at the moment.
However, it is certainly not something we would
want to rule out.
How to benefit from elemental sulphur
Even though sulphur is referred to
as the fourth major nutrient, it is
sometimes overlooked in soil fertility
programs. Nitrogen and phosphate
can get increased without any thought
towards balancing the nutrition in the
plant rootzone. Elemental sulphur
is one of the oldest fertilizers, and is
used extensively and successfully in
agriculture worldwide. Incorporating
elemental sulphur into a balanced
fertilizer blend is simple if managed
correctly.
When elemental sulphur is used on
soils for the first time, soil microbial
health improves. The naturally
occurring thiobacillus begins to
replicate when it is fed with sulphur,
and the soil quickly begins to improve
its ability to oxidize elemental sulphur
into the plant available sulphate form.
As thiobacillus oxidizes a particle
of elemental sulphur, a zone of
acidification forms that makes other
nutrients like phosphate, copper,
manganese, calcium, iron, and
zinc all more plant available in that
zone. This is especially the case in
higher pH calcareous soils that are
predominant in the Canadian prairies.
Over time, with repeated applications,
the soil nutrition noticeably improves.
Although thiobacillus is naturally
occurring in virtually every agricultural
soil, the populations can be at very
low levels in soils that have not been
fed with any form of elemental sulphur
in the past. Once a product like
Keg River 12-0-0-50 is introduced,
thiobacillus populations begin to
respond and build, which means the
second application of an elemental
sulphur fertilizer oxidizes a lot more
rapidly.
In Western Canada, canola is often
viewed as the cash crop in a rotation,
and gets more attention in terms of
a balanced and complete fertilizer
blend. However, there are very good
reasons to use the same balanced
approach with the rest of the crops in
the rotation, and keep the thiobacillus
populations primed and vibrant. The
benefits of the acidification zones and
more efficient nutrient uptake apply to
every crop.
Key Considerations
•
Keg 50 (12-0-0-50) is a physical
blend of 0-0-0-90 NutruSul 90
(insoluble elemental form) and
20.5-0-0-24 ammonium sulphate
(soluble form).
•
Immediate crop sulphate needs
are looked after, and there is also
a continuous sulphate supply
right into the end of the season
and beyond.
•
Keg 50 is less bulky than
traditional ammonium sulphate
fertilizers, resulting in less
transportation, blending, storage,
and application costs.
•
Keg 50 incorporates sulphate
as well as elemental sulphur,
eliminating the need for dealers
to use more than one bin, or carry
two separate inventories.
Brooke Bateman
e. bbateman@kegriver.com
17
Increase phosphate efficiency
for higher yields
Over 70% of applied phosphate (P)
fertilizer goes unused every year
as it gets tied up or bound to soil
particles and other elements, making
it unavailable to the crop. Some
of the bound phosphate is used in
subsequent years, but at least 25%
never becomes available, making it
crucial to make the most efficient use
of fertilizer phosphate to maximize
yields.
Plant-available phosphate is
usually low
Soils can be high in total phosphate
but low in plant-available phosphate
because much of the soil phosphate
gets tied up in unavailable forms.
Gradually, some of the unavailable
forms of phosphate will be converted
into available forms, but this
conversion does not take place fast
enough to meet the demands of highyielding crops. As a result, crops will
likely be deficient in phosphate.
Factors affecting phosphate
availability1:
• Soils high in clay content tie up
more phosphate than lighter soils
• Phosphate is less available at
colder soil temperatures due to
reduced rates of mineralization of
soil organic matter, reduced root
growth, and reduced diffusion
(movement of P within the soil)
• Phosphate availability is better in
moist soils
• Phosphate is more available in soils
with a pH of 6.5 to 7
• Plants with fibrous roots are better
able to take up available phosphate
than plants with a tap root
How JumpStart® works
JumpStart is a phosphate inoculant
containing the naturally occurring soil
fungus Penicillium bilaii, discovered
by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
It colonizes (grows along) plant roots,
producing compounds that release
the “bound” mineral forms of less
available soil and fertilizer phosphate,
making it immediately available for
the crop to use.
JumpStart does not replace the need
for P fertilizer. JumpStart improves
the efficiency of phosphate, which
can reduce the amount of P fertilizer
required, depending on levels of
available phosphate within the soil.
Benefits from using JumpStart
include:
• JumpStart results are greatest in
soils with lower levels of available
phosphate such as a high clay soil
• JumpStart works at low soil
temperatures (as low as 4 °C) when
phosphate availability is normally
limited
• Under dry soil conditions, crops can
have a greater response to increases
in available phosphate levels.
JumpStart has shown to increase
root growth by an average of 30%,
resulting in better stress tolerance
For more information on JumpStart® please contact
Novozymes Biologicals BioAg Group at 1-888-744-5662.
www.bioag.novozymes.com
Novozymes is the world leader in bioinnovation. Together with
customers across a broad array of industries we create tomorrow’s
industrial biosolutions, improving our customers’ business, and the
use of our planet’s resources. Read more at www.novozymes.com.
• JumpStart can work in soils within
a wide pH range. It is the level of
available phosphate that affects
the benefit of JumpStart rather than
soil pH
More yield
Results from 356 farmer-conducted
field trials show that JumpStart
inoculant gives an average 7% higher
yield and $10.63 more profit per
acre2 across all crops (see JumpStart
yield summary). That is a three-toone net return on your investment in
JumpStart.
JumpStart ® yield summary
110
Yield (% of control)
Phosphate fertilizer efficiency
108
106
104
102
100
98
Wheat
Winter
wheat
No JumpStart ®
Canola
Pea/lentil
With JumpStart
1 Phosphorous for Agriculture, International Plant Nutrition
Institute (formerly: Potash and Phosphate Institute).
2 Net returns were calculated using the 2009 suggested
retail price for JumpStart and the Canadian commodity
prices for crops and fertilizer as follows: wheat $5.38/bu;
pea $5.85/bu, lentil $19.60/bu; canola $9.00/bu; winter
wheat $4.42/bu, and phosphate fertilizer $0.32/lb. The
95% confidence limit is $2.10 per acre. This means that
the net return will range between $8.53 and $12.72 per
acre 19 times out of 20.
Novozymes
Biologicals
BioAg Group
® JumpStart is a registered trademark of Novozymes A/S. © 2010 Novozymes. 9072 01.10 LUNA 2009-21795-01
18
A Leap ahead in
Micronutrient Technology
The Right PLACE. Wolf Trax helps
growers manage the right placement
of Micronutrients for meeting their
crop’s nutritional needs. When
blended with dry fertilizer DDP®
Micronutrients thoroughly adhere to
each prill of N, P and K fertilizer. Thus,
as the N, P and K is spread across the
field, a small amount of micronutrient
is delivered with it. This solves the
problem of irregular distribution
and inconsistent blends caused by
different particle size and heavy bulk
densities often experienced with
granular micronutrients. As Wayne
Hawke, General Manager of Cardinal
Farm Supply says,
“Before, we
always had
concerns
with hot
spots in
the field,
especially
with high
concentration
granular boron.
As a result of the better blend with
Wolf Trax, we know we’re delivering a
more even and consistent distribution
of micronutrients in the field.”
The Right RATE. Because of superior
distribution of the micronutrient across
the field with DDP Micronutrients,
application rates are much lower
than are necessary with granular
micronutrients. And, unlike some
other all-in-ones that are being
introduced, the rate per acre of
DDP’s can be fine-tuned. Other
advantages over all-in-ones, is that
each and every fertilizer prill in the
blend is coated, and there are six DDP
Micronutrients to choose from, which
can be used in combination if needed.
Wolf Trax backs up products with the
industry-leading Growing Forward®
Guarantee. More information,
and results from over 750 trials are
available at www.wolftrax.com.
The Right TIME. DDP (Dry Dispersible
Powder) Micronutrients are designed
for use in both a foliar or a soil
applied (fertilizer coating) application.
This is an advantage for retailers who
are seeking inventory efficiencies,
as well as growers who may want to
invest in a program approach of soil
applied, followed by sequential foliar
applications. Research conducted
at the University of Purdue shows
yield benefits of Manganese DDP in
a soil application followed by a foliar
program approach on glyphosatetolerant soybeans.
More importantly, DDP Micronutrients
are the ONLY products to offer the
patented DUAL ACTION™ formulation
offering early uptake, and continual
feeding over time. Earlier uptake
increases the plant’s early plant
health, and ensures beneficial
nutrition early in the seedling’s life.
The Right SOURCE. Wolf Trax
DDP Micronutrients are patented,
formulated products, in the same
manner as many crop protection
products. They are physically and
chemically formulated to enhance
availability to the plant.
DDP Micronutrients offer growers
a cleaner, healthier alternative.
Unlike the nitrogen, potassium
and phosphorus industries, many
micronutrient formulators rely on
industrial waste as an ingredient
to produce. They purchase foundry
waste, tire ash or copper waste and
then (try to) clean it up.
Wolf Trax does NOT use industrial
waste products as feedstocks.
Pharmaceutical or feed
quality ingredients
are used to
ensure a clean
formulation. A
comparison of
micronutrients
registered
in the state of
Washington, where
heavy metals are heartily
regulated shows that Wolf Trax DDP
Micronutrients have much lower levels
of heavy metals compared to other
(already clean) products. This means
that fertilizer blenders and farmers
are not being exposed to high levels
of contaminants. In addition, the
superior placement of Wolf Trax DDP
Fertilizer Coating Micronutrients allow
for low application rates, reducing
the environmental load and the
amounts of heavy metals and other
contaminants being applied per acre.
Wolf Trax DDP Micronutrients offer
many advantages over conventional
granular products, helping growers
apply fertilizer in a way that delivers
efficient production and protects the
environment.
Growing Forward®
www.wolftrax.com
Wolf Trax®, DDP®, Growing Forward®, and DUAL ACTION™ are trademarks
of Wolf Trax, Inc. Not all products are registered for all uses in all areas.
Contact infomaster@wolftrax.com for more information.
19
Fertilizer coated with Wolf Trax Zinc DDP
Fertilizer coated with Wolf Trax Iron DDP
Wolf Trax Micronutrients are extensively tested through
the company’s @ farmtested® Research and Evaluation program
Greenseeker
pays dividends in first year
By Bill Strautman
Lee Moats applied about
40 pounds of N per acre
at seeding time to this
canola field, then used his
Greenseeker to apply an
additional average of 35 lb
N/acre when the canola
was bolting. He ended up
with a 70 bu/acre canola
crop on the field, the best
canola yield he’s ever had
on his farm.
20
The objective of Greenseeker technology is to
maintain crop production levels while reducing
nitrogen input costs. Rather than applying a full rate
of nitrogen at seeding time, producers apply a lower
initial rate, then top up nitrogen with a variable rate
in-crop application.
In-crop rates are based on real-time NDVI
readings taken by Greenseeker sensors mounted on
the liquid fertilizer spray boom and calculated in
the field, based on the yield potential of the crop on
that specific day.
Laurie and Lee Moats, who crop 2,660 acres
of durum, winter wheat, canola and lentils near
Riceton SK, committed to the new technology
in the hopes of managing nitrogen cost risk and
maximizing return on inputs.
Growing pains
“Like any new technology, there were some
startup issues and we had a few of those. But overall,
the thing worked great,” says Lee Moats.
“N-Tech Industries, the makers of Greenseeker,
were absolutely fantastic on product support.
Whenever we had a problem there was somebody
to call, and they knew what to do. They provided
the best support of any company we’ve dealt with.
And that’s good, because there’s a lot of technology
in this thing.”
Moats mounted his Greenseeker on a 100-foot
pull-type Case IH suspended boom sprayer – a
FlexiCoil in Case colors. The first issue he ran into
was the auto rate controller.
“It wasn’t compatible with what we had to run,
so we had to find a rate controller we could convert
our sprayer to. So we took part of our new sprayer,
threw it out and purchased something that would
work,” he says.
“A second issue for installation was cabling. The
cable provided would have worked great on a selfpropelled sprayer, but the extra length on the pulltype meant we were eight feet short of cable.”
Then he needed to upgrade his nozzles to
something that would apply nitrogen from zero to
40 gallons per acre.
“Pattison Liquid Systems, the dealer for
Greenseeker in Western Canada, sold us some
VariTarget nozzles, which are quite amazing nozzles.
They’re expensive – about $60 apiece – but they did
the job,” says Moats.
“The bottom rate was actually about five gallons,
because any lower than that and we couldn’t
generate enough pressure to run the nozzles. Even
with four shutoffs on the sprayer, our minimum was
about five gallons.”
“This year we decided five gallons/acre was
the minimum and programmed that into the
Greenseeker, so anything less than five gallons was
five gallons. Had I made five gallons or less to be
zero, I’d have had an additional savings of nitrogen.
For 2010, we have to decide if we go with an actual
zero rate in some spots, or still put on a bit.”
Moats had to mount six Greenseeker sensors on
his boom, which was a bit of a challenge to ensure
the boom could fold up without damaging any
of the units. A few other parts were added to the
sprayer, including a hand-held Nomad computer,
mounted in the tractor cab.
Pre-programmed controller
“The computer captures information from the
Greenseeker sensors and the GPS system, then it
drives the auto rate system. It’s a Trimble Nomad
computer. It’s a ruggedized, hand-held unit with a
touch screen and a mini edition of Windows,” he
says.
“It comes preloaded with the Greenseeker
software to run everything you need. Included in
the software are all the algorithms and equations
developed for all the crops – in our case canola,
durum, barley and hard red spring wheat in the
brown and black soil zones. We’re waiting for a
winter wheat equation.”
“The Canadian side of that was developed by Dr.
Guy Lafond and Chris Holzapfel and his group at
the Indian Head research farm.” I can’t say enough
about the good work of Guy and his co-workers
who have pioneered the use of this technology in
Western Canada. If it weren’t for them we wouldn’t
be able to make the Greenseeker work here.”
Staging for the in-crop application is fairly
specific – the six leaf stage in durum and right
before bolting in canola. Moats expected he’d
move directly from herbicide spraying to fertilizer
application, but when he finished spraying, the
crop growth was delayed because of the cool
temperatures last spring. He ended up waiting a
while for the crop to reach the right stage.
Part of the Greenseeker system includes applying
a nitrogen-rich strip – 1.5 or 2x the recommended
rate – to ensure that zone is not nitrogen deficient.
The unit then calibrates application rates based on
that strip.
“When we went out after spraying, I thought
we’d see a big difference between the crop and the
N-rich strip, but the difference wasn’t there. At the
supposed ‘ideal’ stage, we didn’t see any nitrogen
deficiency, but four or five days after this ideal time,
we started to see the deficiencies showing up,” says
Moats.
“But they seemed quite conservative to us.
Because our growing conditions had gone from
cold to almost ideal, we got optimistic and in terms
of canola we pretended we were black soil zone
instead of brown and used the curves for the black
soil zone that apply a higher level of nitrogen. We
also reduced the nitrogen use efficiency settings in
the Greenseeker program, to move the curve up
and apply more N. At the end of the year, those
decisions turned out to be the right ones.”
Moats says he was quite bullish about the year,
but it was also hard to imagine he would grow a
crop on the low levels of nitrogen Greenseeker was
calling for.
“We really had to get our heads around ‘doing
the same with less’. For the previous 20 years, it’s
been ‘spend money to make money’ on this farm,”
he says.
The system did as promised, doing a calibration
procedure, then developing a nitrogen application
curve to drive the auto rate controller.
Surprising variation
“It worked phenomenally well. The surprise for
me was how much variation there was in the crop
according to the Greenseeker, when to the naked
eye it hardly looked different at all. And the level of
variation was pretty wide,” says Moats.
“The rate controller got a real workout. You’d
drive 100 feet and the rate would change three
times, so we were happy how that worked.”
Moats side-banded 40 lb N/acre with a
ConservaPak at seeding time, to both canola and
durum. Normal application rates
would be 80 lb/acre for canola and
70 lb/acre in durum.
With the Greenseeker, he topdressed an average of 27 lb N/acre
on the durum, for a total of 67 lb/
acre. Canola fields averaged an
extra 22 lb N/acre or 35 lb N/acre,
depending on the field, for total N
rates of 62 or 75 lb N/acre.
The tractor cab is already crowded
with technology, but Moats had
to add a yellow Nomad computer
to control the Greenseeker on his
spray boom.
21
With both durum and canola, the Greenseeker application
range would have varied from around 12.5 lb N/acre up to more
than 60 lb N/acre.
Best ever yields
“In the durum, our yield was over 50 bus/acre. But the exciting
part is we have 14 percent protein. We’re reasonably certain that
because we got such a high level of protein, we didn’t sacrifice any
yield for lack of nitrogen,” says Moats.
“There were durum yields in the area that were higher than
that, but for us that’s a tremendous yield and the high protein is
something we’ve never grown on our farm. So we’re excited by
that. We’re attributing it to low lying areas of the fields that would
normally be high yielding but low protein. We think in areas
where the NDVI readings were high, it would up the additional N
and those areas ended up being high yielding and high protein.”
Some of Moats’ canola fields were hit pretty hard by frost in
the spring, so in June and early July he wasn’t too optimistic. But
that turned around big-time.
“The canola was off the charts for us. Our canola that on July 1
the Greenseeker was suggesting 25 bu/acre ended up yielding 45
to 48 bu/acre. Those fields yielded more than we’ve ever had on
our farm, except we had a couple of fields that weren’t frozen as
bad,” says Moats.
“The high end average rate of nitrogen on our InVigor canola
was 75 lb/acre, which is 5 to 10 pounds lower than what we would
have applied normally across the board and our highest yielding
field was very close to 70 bu/acre. I think we averaged 64 or 65
bu/acre on those fields. That’s a once in a life time yield I’m sure”
Moats is still not sure where the nitrogen came from to
produce those yields. He says he can claim 20 years of zero till
and lentils in the rotation, but he feels he got production he
shouldn’t have, relative to the nitrogen level applied.
Not an inexpensive upgrade
The move to adopt Greenseeker technology did not come
cheap for Moats.
“By the time we got done paying for the Greenseeker, the
vari-rate nozzles and the auto rate controller upgrade, we’re
at about $22,000. On our 2,660 acre farm, that’s about eight
dollars an acre spread across the farm. For an eight dollar capital
investment, we’re able to get variable rate application that’s
sensing our crop in real time,” he says.
“The $22,000 might sound like a lot, but relative to the capital
we have invested in our farm, it’s nothing! We think we saved
about $6,000 in nitrogen costs this year, but we feel we were
more efficient with what we did use. Had we used this in 2008,
which was extremely dry here, we’d have saved enough to pay for
the Greenseeker in just one year.”
Moats says he was able to use the Environmental Farm Plan
Farm Stewardship program to help fund part of his Greenseeker
purchase.
“In terms of the Greenseeker, a 30 percent grant for that is
helpful in covering the expense. It certainly makes the payback
period a lot less.”
22
Fine-tune in 2010
For the 2010 growing season, Moats plans to fine tune a few
things and try to overcome some of the software glitches.
“We’ll do a better job of laying out our nitrogen-rich strips.
We’re going to get a yield monitor, so we can keep track of what
we’re doing,” he says.
“We’re probably going to reduce the amount of nitrogen we
put down at seeding time. We want to make sure that we’re
not applying more than our crop would use on a relatively bad
year. That’s the risk – if we put on a bunch of nitrogen like we
did in 2008, then don’t get a return on it because of weather
conditions.”
“The whole idea with this is how do you maintain your
production yet reduce your inputs. But you’ve got to reduce your
inputs in order to test that.”
While there are other ways to manage fertilizer inputs and do
variable rate applications, Moats feels this system makes the most
sense for him.
“We’re not using satellite imagery, or last year’s information.
We’re not calibrating this thing around soil testing. We’re looking
at it relative to how the plant is, right now, today,” he says.
“The response rate is as fast as that information can transfer
electronically and as fast as your auto rate can react, which is just
a few feet. On a 100-foot sprayer, you’re incredibly responsive to
the health of your current year’s crop, as it’s growing.”
“If you compare that to some of the annual, per acre fees that
you have to pay for some of the other services, for information
that isn’t real time, I think it makes Greenseeker look like
something that’s cost effective and responsive.”
The one down side is that it’s a split application. You need
rainfall after you apply the nitrogen.
“Some people will say ‘What happens if it doesn’t rain?’ ,but,
if you’re applying all your N at seeding time, you’re risking the
whole load then. That’s a much bigger risk,” he says.
“By applying some nitrogen at seeding time and some later in
the season, your ability to have confidence in what kind of crop
you’re producing is so much better on July 1 than it is on May 1.
So I think this has a good fit for variable rate and it’s cost effective,
as well.”
Other uses
Moats says there’s also potential to use the technology for
other applications. He could use the NDVI readings to set up
variable rate fungicide applications.
“You could fiddle with the software once you understand what
the NDVI reading is relative to plant growth and where your
disease risk is at, then make application decisions accordingly,”
he says.
“The same thing with desiccants in lentils. If you’ve got a high
rate of growth, you put more desiccant on. The dry hilltops might
require less.”
START WITH
CONFIDENCE
TOUGH WEED CONTROL AND NO TRADE-OFFS
Saskatchewan grower counts on cross-spectrum Simplicity TM
for superior weed control in wheat.
Controlling a serious weed
outbreak in wheat can be a
challenge – especially after a few
rainy seasons. For excellent control
of a cross-spectrum of weeds,
Dennis Enns has had good success
with Simplicity.
Enns farms 6,000 acres of wheat,
barley, canola, peas and oats with
his brother Norman at Carrot River
in northeast Saskatchewan. “Wild
oats were a fairly major concern on
some of our acres. We’ve had a few
wet years preceding this one, so we
wanted to treat everything to get it
under control,” says Enns.
In 2008, Enns tried Simplicity in a
tank mix with MCPA on a half section
of wheat. Based on how it performed
he used it on all of his 1,800 wheat
acres in 2009. “We saw good control
and it was fairly quick,” he says.
“Then there was the simplicity of
throwing it all in the tank – it’s all in
one box and you don’t have to buy a
bunch of different products.”
In addition to wild oats, Enns
has wild buckwheat, hemp-nettle,
dandelion, and narrow-leaved
hawk’s beard in his fields. As a
Group 2 herbicide, Simplicity offers
worry free resistance management,
including control of Group 1 resistant
wild oats. “Control was very good,
and we end up taking care of our
wild oat resistant field without having
to change chemicals,” says Enns.
Simplicity performed as well
in Enns’ wheat as the expensive
tank mix he had success with
previously, but without the mixing
hassles. “We were hoping to have
the same success with Simplicity
and it appears we did this year. We
definitely didn’t find any re-growth or
misses. Simplicity worked very well,”
he says.
weeds, so it worked very well in that
way too,” he says.
It is important to Enns to keep his
rotation options open. “We grow a
lot of peas, which is a residue issue
with any of the better controlling wild
oat herbicides. We’ve always had
a concern with that.” A benefit of
switching to Simplicity is that it has no
re-cropping restrictions – so Enns can
get safe, effective weed control this
year and still rotate to peas next year.
Based on his experience with it,
Enns plans to use Simplicity in all of
his wheat acres for the next few years.
“We’re very satisfied with it,” he says.
In fact, he saw better residual
control of smaller broadleaf weeds
including volunteer canola with
Simplicity. “It seemed to have lots of
residual effect on smaller broadleaf
Trademark of Dow AgroSciences LLC
0110-13355
TM
23
EARLY SEED NUTRITION
ENHANCES SEEDLING VIGOR
ASN
PULSE CROPS
The ASN program also includes key
until the young root hairs reach
As growers seeded acres increase
forthe
micronutrients such as zinc, and
fertilizer applied through the air drill.
more seed is sown into cold soils early
EASTERN CROP DOCTOR INC.
manganese known for it's positive
in the year. Even with the improvement
Soybean
Trialgrowers
- Nodule Counts,
Root & towards
Tissue Mass Weightseffects
completed on
September
25,
on
seedling
germination rate
Many
are turning
in precision seed placement
over Seed Nutrition
2009
and vigor. This innovative product also
a seed nutrition program
to give
the past number of years, one can
Treatment & Description
Reps - 4
Nodule Count
Plant Weight (gm) Root Weight (gm)
Tissue Weight (gm)
contains
molybdenum which aids in
the young
plants
a jumpWhole
before
the
not under estimate the importance
of
the nodulation
to the
high seedling vigor. StartingINOCULANT
with a ONLY fertilizer
Averagebecomes
10.55available 146.8
42.9
103.9 of legumes. Boron is
another component of the product
plant.
seed that has been tested and is high
ASN + INOCULANT
Average
11.03
163.9
47.3
116.6
which is known for its enhancement
in germination and seed vigor is an
ASN
+10.3
+12.5
in flowering
and seed set. Rounding
A AVERAGE
new product from Alpine+11.6
Plant
excellent starting point. Controlling
out the ASN micronutrient package is
Foods called ASN (Alpine Seed
the conditions of the soil at seeding
As a Seed Treatment for Pulse Crops:
Note:. Apply ASN at least 30 minutes before seeding
copper which aids in disease control.
Nutrition)
providing
essential
time is often out of the growers
Lentils,
Beans &is
Peas,
Chickpeas
3-5 Litres (Rate/tonne of seed)
nutrition to germinating seeds. Key
control. However by utilizing proper
to this new product is a large dose of
seed treatments and seed nutrition
phosphate which is key to developing
products the grower can lessen the
an early root system. Independent
risks associated with seeding into
studies have shown that ASN can
cold, dry soils. Under these conditions
increase seedling root mass by 17%
newly germinated seedlings have
ASN
in wheat and 10% in soybeans.
little plant nutrition to draw from
ASN for CEREAL CROPS
Independent Data
Control
Wheat Seed Nutrition Trial - Root & Tissue Mass Weights
completed on September 18, 2009
Reps - 4
Whole Plant Weight (gm)
Root Weight (gm)
Tissue Weight (gm)
CHECK
Average
110.10
28.33
81.78
ASN
Average
126.73
33.38
93.35
ASN
AVERAGE
+15.1%
+17.8%
+14.1%
As a Seed Treatment for Cereal Crops:
Rate /tonne of seed
Rate /tonne of seed
• Wheat, Barley, Oats, Triticale etc.................. 5 Litres
• Sorghum, Safflower
• Canola, Millet, Turnip, Radish, Sesame ......... 10-15 Litres
5 Litres
Note: Apply ASN at least 30 minutes before seeding.
ASN for PULSE CROPS
Independent Data
Soybean Seed Nutrition Trial - Nodule Counts, Root & Tissue Mass Weights
Reps - 4
Nodule Count
Whole Plant Weight (gm)
Root Weight (gm)
Tissue Weight (gm)
INOCULANT ONLY
Average
10.55
146.8
42.9
103.9
ASN + INOCULANT
Average
11.03
163.9
47.3
116.6
ASN
AVERAGE
+11.6
+10.3
+12.5
Lentils, Beans & Peas, Chickpeas
24
As growers know all too well early
healthy germinating crops tend to
provide the grower with an earlier
maturing crop and higher quality
yields.
For more information on ASN contact
completed on September 25,
2009
As a Seed Treatment for Pulse Crops:
Cost for the ASN program ranges
from two to four dollars per acre
dependent on the seeding rate. For
small seeded crops such as canola
cost is only 7¢ per pound.
Terry Good
Western Canada Sales Manager
1.800.265.2268 ext. 233
Note:. Apply ASN at least 30 minutes before seeding
3-5 Litres (Rate/tonne of seed)
Rebates:
They cost growers time
and money
The crop protection industry is full of little
secrets, many of which line the pockets of the
“Big Six” manufacturers, and cost you money.
No secret costs growers more than complex
packaging, bundling, and the Big R – Rebates.
The “Big Six” offer growers a rebate as the
carrot on the end of their stick. But if you stop
and think about it, why are they offering to give
you your money back? It doesn’t make sense,
unless they are making a bundle on the product.
That’s where MANA comes in.
MANA offers its product at fair prices, without
complex bundling and rebate schemes. MANA
saves growers money up front and lets them
choose what product to use in their fields,
allowing for better agronomic decisions for
their operation.
“Growers too often base product choices on
grower rebate programs and end up using
products that are not the best options for the job
in terms of performance, crop tolerance, or
spectrum,” said Tracy Preete, M.Sc., PAg., an
AgriTrend Agri-Coach. “As Agri-Coaches, we try
to stay away from the rebate end of things and
focus on recommending the best product or
group of products for the situation on a field-byfield basis.”
Let’s use seed treatment as an example.
A grower may get a great rebate or “deal”
on a seed treatment if they purchase that same
company’s herbicide. Sure the seed treatment
will work, but it may not treat the seed for all
possible diseases noted by an agrologist.
It poses the question to growers, ‘Are you doing
the right thing for your operation, both in the
short and long term’? In the end, there is always
a cost for a grower’s decision.
Even worse, the grower may not always receive
the full rebate amount expected at the point of
sale and will sometimes have to wait nearly a full
year to receive their money.
“Quite often, there are no flexible options and no
choice. A grower will pay more for one product,
just to receive a discount or rebate for a product
that isn’t his agrologist’s first choice, or not quite
right for their operation,” said Glen Douglas,
Eastern Prairies Manager for MANA Canada.
“The rebated product will be good, but not
necessarily the best choice available.”
Agrologists often feel rebate programs tie their
hands. They have spent the time in the fields,
have gotten to know the grower and their
operation, and understand the local area they
work in. They find it frustrating to see a grower
change their mind, or ignore a recommendation,
simply because of a rebate.
“Economics and product cost are certainly
important considerations for the grower,” said
Preete. “But the first priority when selecting a
pesticide should be based on agronomic
considerations and that’s the role that we
Agri-Coaches are focused on.”
Break free from
rebates with MANA!
MANA is committed to Canadian growers. There
are no complex bundles, and unlike the “Big
Six” manufacturers, there are no rooms full of
accountants whose only job is to determine how
much of the growers’ money they may, or may
not, give back. With MANA, farmers save money
up front. They know the cost of their crop
protection products when they purchase them,
not six to eight months down the road. And with
more products coming to market every year,
MANA is the best choice for the cost-conscious
grower looking for quality and maximum profits.
Fair Price.
Brand Results.
www.manainc.ca
25
QA
From the Ground Up - Farm CEO | Q&A
Bill Strautman of
The agAdvance visits with
Greg Appleyard, president
of Cattleland Feedyards in
Strathmore.
Effective partnering
helps feedlot and farming enterprise succeed
The original feedlot at Cattleland Feedyards was
started by Pat Fisher, Ben Thorlakson and a third
partner. They bought a 1,500 head feedlot in 1975
and built it up to a 25,000 head feedyard by the
early 90s.
Greg Appleyard started at Cattleland in 1993,
working nights on the grain farm side, as he built up
his own operation.
In 1995, Appleyard walked into Pat’s office, said
he wanted a pickup truck, cell phone and $35,000
a year and he’d be the feedyard’s grain farmer. From
1995 to 2002, Appleyard and his wife Candace also
built up their own operation to include a 5,000 acre
grain farm and 500 cows.
Appleyard moved up to farm manager, then
trucking manager and in 2001 operations manager
of the feedyard. In 2001 he suggested he’d like to
become owner of the operation and by 2003, just
before the BSE crisis hit, Appleyard finalized an
ownership transfer deal and took over operations.
How did you take over a 25,000 head feedyard?
I approached a number of players in the Alberta
feedlot industry to judge partnership interest,
but most were also interested in calling the shots.
I eventually met with Karen Gregory, a local
accountant in Strathmore, for advice on how to
structure potential partnerships. We did some
planning and number crunching, and eventually
took her and her husband Joseph on as 50:50
partners.
26
Karen’s husband is a retired veterinarian and
helps with the cow herd, while my wife Candace
manages our personal herd, which ranges from
1,100 to 1,500 cows.
Even though the feedyard deal closed on the
same date that BSE hit, Cattleland partnered with
some established cattle feeders in the area, which
helped us weather that storm.
What role do partnerships play?
Partnerships are an important part of my
business. If you look at my successes, I’m always
trying to partner with someone that’s stronger,
smarter, a better business person than I was. I
always had the energy to give and the ability to
listen. The partners, their experience, capital and
other things associated - I’d never have been able
to grow at the same speed, or had the successes,
without them.
I’m quite sure that in the first three years, I would
have gone broke without an accountant partner.
Someone that knew the numbers, knew where we
were at, at all times. Especially in the cattle business,
when you’re rolling inventory all the time.
When my partner started teaching me more
about books and all the things around business, that
eventually changed my view on what my role in the
business should be.
When I started, I wanted to be in the combine, or
in the centre of everything. But I eventually realized
I make more money watching input purchases and
end product sales than I ever could in a combine seat. That took
me quite a few years to understand.
Where do you feed your cattle?
I have a numbered company that owns a cow herd of 1,200 to
1,500 cows. My wife manages that operation. The success of that
herd is because of all the grain land we can salvage in the fall and
spring.
Cattleland Feedyards, we try to treat as a four star hotel. We
can’t afford the five star and the three star isn’t good enough for
us. Cattleland rents Hilltona Feedyards, then we feed in seven
backgrounders in southern Alberta. In Alberta we’d have 40 to
45,000 cattle on feed.
Cattleland Feedyards also partners and feeds cattle in Mexico.
We buy 3 or 4,000 head, move them to wheat pastures and
feedyards in Texas. The reason that’s important is we want to
understand what’s going on in Mexico with COOL. It’s also
important to understand what we’re competing with. We’re not
competing with neighbors in Alberta. We’re competing on the
production costs of meat. That has made money for us, but we’re
okay if it breaks even.
We have a yearling program, renting ranches at Cochrane
and the Peace region, with 3 to 4,000 yearlings on grass in the
summer. That’s also to help understand how to forward contract
fats and keep our fingers in that business.
We bought a ranch in the Peace region, with the intention of
moving all the cows off the expensive land in southern Alberta.
We found two partners, purchased a 12,000 acre ranch right on
the Peace River and moved all the cows up.
That didn’t work as well as expected, so after a few years the
cows came back south, changes were made and it’s now a 5,000
acre grain farm, with 500 to 1,000 cows and a couple thousand
yearlings. It operates five months a year, then gets shut down in
the winter.
managed individually and have to operate independently.
The grain farm operates as Creekstone Farms Ltd. It’s grown
from 8,000 acres in 2003 to more than 20,000 grain acres in 2010.
I see the feedyard as the hub of the wheel and these other
enterprises as spokes. The grain farm is getting large as well. It’s
really its own hub, but I would have never had the ability to do
that without the feedyard.
We’re involved with Lexcan energy, doing reclamation work,
well construction and servicing in the oil and gas industry. That
allows us to keep better equipment and people around. If we
have a slow month in the oil industry, we bring them in, put them
on end-dumps and tandems, to clean all the pens. We plan to
manage the size of it so it doesn’t get too out of hand.
We rent a site out to Earth Renew Organics. They take 25 to 50
percent of our manure, produce power for the grid and an organic
pearled fertilizer product. We have no direct ownership in that
company, but they handle much of our manure and lower our
manure costs by a couple hundred thousand dollars a year.
Why do you run a mechanical shop business?
Cattleland Feedyards includes a heavy-duty mechanic shop
on site as a separate company. We do all our own in-house
mechanical and safety work, with 60 percent of our business
outside customers. That enables us to have state-of-the-art
equipment in the shop.
The trucking division includes ten trucks – five cattle liners and
five grain trailers. We look after about 80 percent of our in and
out freight needs, from the auction barns to the packing plants, to
grain off the combines to storage and to elevators, to grain in for
the feedyard.
Freight is underestimated by a lot of people. That’s close to a
$3 million enterprise that keeps the cash in-house. It also gives
you the ability to be flexible. If you buy half a load of cattle at an
auction barn, it’s expensive to hire someone for that. We can send
our own trucks, and find other buyers to fill the trucks.
What other businesses are you involved in?
Each one of these business units has to stand alone. They’re
Where does risk management fit in?
The newest company we’ve developed is RMI ag – Risk
Management Incorporated ag. Our focus in the last two years is
producing a risk management company that helps maintain and
sustain profitability within the ag business.
It involves software programs to execution of trades to
executing physical delivery of product. It’s helping people
understand markets, pricing commodities and has the potential
to become our largest corporation. Our head office is in Chicago.
It’s a North American company. I’ve been doing these things
myself for three or four years, we’ve found a partner that manages
risk in the energy business, so I’m a partner for the ag side of the
business.
We haven’t taken hits like some others in the industry because
we’ve protected margins through the markets. There’s two big
issues in the market – one is greed and the other is fear. We try to
remove the emotion and simply work to maintain a profit margin.
If we can’t maintain a profit margin, don’t do it. Get out.
27
That’s why we have all these business units. Most people
would have it as one big operation. But for us, if something is not
working, let’s not do it.
Farmers will kill themselves to save two bushels out of the back
of the combine. But if you take the Canadian marketplace, twothirds of all grain marketed is sold in the bottom quartile. Grain
companies don’t make or lose more money from marketing
grain in the top quartile. So those two bushels get absorbed
instantaneously by marketing properly.
My biggest thing to focus people on today is, lose the emotion
of the marketplace. Volatility on a day-to-day basis is just noise.
Come up with a structured plan, hedge and cost, manage within
that, then maintain and sustain profit margin. Sometimes $7
canola will make you more money than $11 canola, if you know
your input costs and land values.
And don’t get greedy. If you meet those expectations of budget,
just take them. Nobody has ever gone broke taking a profit.
How do you make business decisions?
People will say focus on your core business, don’t get spread
out. For us it’s been a bit different in that all these things need to
happen around us anyways.
We treat all these business like hockey teams. We set up a
budget and profitability matrix, then see if we can hire someone
we can trust to run it. Does a new enterprise tie into any of our
existing businesses? I’ve always wanted to sustain each company
based on internal workings.
With a hockey team, you have a salary cap within your budget,
then you maintain a good atmosphere, keep energy up and
morale high. You have to keep people motivated on a daily basis.
And keep the lines of communication open.
And I love land. If it comes within my reach I’ll try to acquire
it. They’re not making any more of it and it’s great when there’s
inflation. I have a hard time saying no to land. Businesses, they
really have to be able to stand on their own.
How do you keep the lines of communication open?
With 61 employees in the operation right now, we do lots of
training programs with our staff. When we’re looking for staff,
maybe five out of 100 potential employees are really good. So we
initially look for work ethic and the ability to listen and learn. If
they show those abilities, we try to grow those people within the
organization.
28
I have all the managers of all these businesses on MSN, so
no matter where I am in the world, I’m getting updates on my
Blackberry. It’s all about communication and keeping people
informed. I feel that if a manager has an issue, he can come in,
shut the door and tell me I’m a butt head. We work it out, then
when we go out the door we have a united front again.
I also learned that a certain amount of shit happens and to
not sweat the small stuff. So one key to our success is that the
openness reduces the sleepless nights. I can sleep like a baby
because whatever was on my mind was said that day.
How important is technology to you?
I fly at the 30,000 foot level. I like innovation, new ideas, being
a pioneer.
We love technology and embrace it. For risk management
software, we write our own programs. We DNA all animals
in the feedyard and everything is genetically managed. We
have a privately owned research centre for cattle research. The
technology there is second to none.
Construction is scheduled to start in the fall of 2010 for a
biofuels complex, CR fuels, with a 36 million gallon ethanol
plant and biodiesel facility. It will be on our property but I’m just
a shareholder. It’s a totally separate business.
We will have access to wet distiller’s grain for a feed source.
Our trucking and shop fit in, risk management for the grain
purchases and ethanol sales. It falls right into the midst of what
we do.
Are you a rancher or a farmer?
When I look in the mirror, do I see a cattleman? Not
necessarily anymore. When I look in the mirror, I try to be a
businessman, look at returns, profit margins, managing budgets,
managing volatility in markets and managing people.
That’s taken some time to get my head around. If you had told
me five years ago I’d spend most of my time in the office every
day, I wouldn’t have believed you. But it’s opened up a whole new
world for me, from a networking and worldly point of view. We
know a lot of people in a lot of industries all over North America.
That’s opened up a lot of opportunities.
From a global perspective, I see there’s such opportunity. I
don’t see the neighbor as a competitor. The other feedlots in
Alberta, we might compete on the buy side of feeder cattle. But
my profitability comes from managing within.
Would You Buy Your Business?
Treating a farm as a business makes for a great lifestyle, but farming as a lifestyle
often results in a poor business. A management axiom states that businesses are
built to be sold. But farms do not typically get sold as businesses. The assets are sold
separately, assuming an arm’s length sale. But let’s assume that farms are regularly
sold as a going concern, where someone takes over at a particular point – lock, stock
and barrel. Would you buy your farm business?
If you are selling the farm assets at arm’s length, the health of the business as a
going concern is not important. The only issues are whether you get enough after
tax dollars to fund your retirement and any desired estate distribution to children
or other beneficiaries. It is a different situation if you want to transfer the farm
intergenerationally – to sell the farm to family at some point. Why would family want
to take over a business that you would not want to buy yourself?
Some farmers might not know if they’d want to buy their business, perhaps because
they are not sure how to go about answering the question. It can be more difficult
than what may appear at first glance.
Here are 10 areas of a business to
examine:
1.Operations
a.How does your farm compare
against industry standards for
yield?
b.Are standard operating procedures
developed and printed?
c.Are safety plans and protocols in
place?
2.Marketing
a.Suppliers and vendors
i. Are contracts in place?
3.Human Resources
a.Is there an organizational chart?
b.Are there job descriptions?
c.Is there a formal performance
review process?
d.Does a professional development
plan exist?
4.Finance
a.Do you monitor financial
performance, minimally checking
on the following:
i. Working capital availability
ii.Relationship between debt and
equity and the earned ability to
repay debt
iii.Return on equity
iv.Gross margin efficiency
b.Is bookkeeping updated monthly?
c.Is the business adequately
financed?
5.Ownership
a.Do you have a printed strategic
business plan and is it reviewed
annually?
b.Are regular (monthly) business
meetings held, complete with
agendas and documented notes
from prior meetings?
c.Are annual ownership meetings
held that review capital investment
objectives and decisions?
d.Does the business have a five-year
capital budget in place?
e.Is there an opportunity for growth?
6.Relationships
a.What is the status of relationships
with key business partners, such as:
i. Landlords
ii.Suppliers and vendors
iii.Lenders
iv.Professionals (accountants,
lawyers)
v. Non-farming children or siblings
Chartered Accountants & Business Advisors
204.782.8200
mnp.ca
7.Administration
a.Documentation
i. Are legal documents and
important papers up to date?
ii.Are they stored in a safe and
accessible place?
b.Information and Data
i. Are there processes in place to
manage information and data,
including sourcing and storing
the appropriate information?
8.Technology
a.Does the farm use new
technologies in operations and
other management areas?
9.Assets
a.What is the condition of productionrelated assets such as equipment
and buildings?
b.Do redundant assets exist that
could be converted to cash?
10. Other
a.Risk
i. Has a risk management
plan been developed and
implemented?
b.Environment
i. Has an environmental plan been
developed and implemented?
Answering each of the applicable
questions above will provide insight
into the health of your farm business.
It is a long list but not necessarily
exhaustive, and while it is unlikely
that any farm will be able to answer
positively to all questions, it will help
to determining whether you would
want to buy your farm business.It will
also provide an indication of things to
work on that could help to improve the
business and make it more ‘saleable’.
Terry Betker is a partner with Meyers
Norris Penny LLP, working out of the
Winnipeg, Manitoba office. He is
director of practice development in
Agriculture – Government & Industry.
Terry Betker
p. 204.782.8200
e. terry.betker@mnp.ca
29
[ Ron Frost on Marketing Strategies ]
Ron Frost joined Agri-Trend Marketing Inc as
a Senior Market-Coach™ in December 2009.
Studying the markets has been his passion ever
since he graduated from U of M in 1976. He was
fascinated with the trends that emerged from the
commodity charts, and how much product he
could control by leveraging only a small amount of
investment.
By 1979, the noon radio and paper news updates
were not good enough for his needs. He joined
five other neighbors near his Elm Creek, MB
farm that as a group received a reduced rate for
private phone lines to benefit from the cutting edge
technology, fiber optics, that Infomart was using
to deliver real time market quotes, and interactive
What exactly do you do for a farm client?
Most farmers have perpetual optimism
built right into their genetics, and
this generally works against them
when it comes to marketing their
crops. Despite all that goes on in the
markets every year, too often farmers
choose when to sell based on factors
unrelated to the market situation and
become influenced to sell when they
need cash flow, when they need to
empty the bins for the upcoming crop,
30
purchasing capabilities from companies like
Hudson Bay Company. The company providing
the service was impressed with how he utilized the
information, and hired him to demo the service to
the agricultural industry across Western Canada.
In 1986 he became a futures broker, and had a
successful career working with companies like
Scotia McLeod, Midland Walwyn, Refco, Merrill
Lynch and Man Financial before moving to the
consulting industry to assist farmers directly.
Ron watched the formation and growth of AgriTrend Marketing, the team of very successful
people that had joined, the unique approach they
had developed, he was impressed with what he
saw, and before long he joined himself.
when they have some time to haul
grain, or when storage risks are high.
What do you mean when you say
“Risk Management” Ron?
Alternatively, what Agri-Trend does
is work closely with each farmer to
understand their unique production
costs and cash flow requirements;
we target a healthy profit, develop
a strategy, and then actively help
them stick to it. We watch the
markets closely, and our whole team
collaborates daily on managing risk
and opportunities.
The short answer is helping farmers
sleep better when it comes to
marketing. It’s an annual cycle of
working with farm managers to
minimize or eliminate price risk that
will jeopardize the bottom line, from
a price perspective. Realistically not
all production can be secured from
price risk at any moment in time,
but if we are diligent at reducing the
increments that are exposed to price
volatility we are closer to the end goal
of providing our clients with a risk
management plan.
Do all of the clients of Agri-Trend Marketing
have a futures account, and is that necessary?
The futures/options account is like a
wrench in the tool box. It is the most
effective tool for certain marketing
challenges, and to not utilize the full
range of instruments available to
us does restrict us a bit. That said,
some clients may have a risk profile
where such strategies should not be
incorporated, and the vast majority of
improved marketing results can be
realized without using
a futures /options
account. But when
possible, why use a
pair of pliers when
an open-end wrench
the correct size is
available?
Why a team approach instead
of one analyst calling the shots?
Wouldn’t a single analyst be less confusing?
Nobody has a monopoly on good
ideas and we all have different
strengths in various aspects of
the agricultural markets, so why
would any organization striving
for excellence choose to eliminate
the combined power of a team
effort. Our weekly strategy sessions
between the coaches, with input
from our derivative experts and
analysts, are designed to dissect the
alternative solutions to the evolving
market landscape, then when all
the ideas have been scrutinized we
present a unified recommendation to
our clients. These strategy sessions
result in a consensus that has been
torn apart many different angles, no
one analyst has the ability to make a
more thorough analysis than a team
that has 100 plus years of experience
in the grain/oilseed markets.
What makes Agri-Trend Marketing stand
apart from its competition?
Number one would be the talent
that we have involved, including the
Senior Analysts, the Senior Market-
Coaches, and the Market-Coaches.
This is a very dynamic team. Next
would be the unique business process. The ratio of clients to coaches
is one of the lowest in the industry
giving our coaches the ability to not
only communicate a sales alert to the
clients, but we have the capability to
speak with each client on a timely
basis to discuss the recommendation
in detail. The process doesn’t stop
there, as it does with most consulting groups. At ATMI we then initiate
a reverse flow of information back up
the chain to the Senior Coaches on
the execution results of the recommendation. Tracking the results of
our recommendations and
recording the reasoning
why some do not follow
the advice provides us
with valuable information for building lasting
relationships with
clients. The bottom line, without
execution we’ve
haven’t helped
anyone.
What are the differences between a
technical trader and fundamental trader?
Do you use charts to map out your pricing
strategy?
First let me say that both traders are
using techniques to forecast future
price movements in a market and
each has the same end goal, profit.
The similarities basically end there,
although many analysts from either
discipline will tell you the most
powerful market is one where both
methods of analysis come to the
same bullish or bearish conclusion.
A fundamental trader analyzes the
changing supply of a commodity
and compares that to the
anticipated demand scenario from
any point in time. Weather can
influence, currency valuations,
the political landscape, and other
factors.
and extensive statistical analysis of
trading data are used instead.
We do use charts as they are the best
way to visualize prices and compare
to reoccurring patterns, but also
we know literally tens of billions of
dollars of commodity fund capital
is controlled by fund managers that
primarily use technical analysis,
making it imperative we understand
technical analysis techniques.
In your opinion does the Canadian Dollar
and Crude Oil values influence Canadian
grain and oilseed markets?
There is no question currency
movements have a significant
impact on the competitiveness of
our commodities when exporting.
Especially right now. The fluctuations
on a monthly basis are 400% of what
they’ve been over the past couple of
decades. This volatility magnifies the
currency effect even further.
As for the linkage between Crude
Oil and the grain/oilseed prices,
diverting 1/3 of the entire US corn
crop to ethanol and having the EU-27
consume more than the equivalent
of the entire Canadian Canola crop
for biodiesel definitely impacts global
supply/demand, and consequently
prices. There are still many unknowns
though, as this sector is still very
dependent on subsidies, political
mandates and new technologies.b
Derek Squair, President
Agri-Trend Marketing Inc.
c. 306.435.9344
p. 306.435.3117
f. 306.435.2917
e. dsquair@agritrendmarketing.com
www. agritrendmarketing.com
The technical trader has no
concern of record yields, drought
forecasts or trade embargos as his
belief is that prices already reflect
these influences. Chart patterns
31
At the recent Agri-Trend Farm Forum
Event in Saskatoon, I attended a
fascinating session on Controlled
Traffic Farming in Australia "DOT 1".
When utilized in the right situations,
the yield increases were substantial
mainly because water use efficiency
(WUE) was dramatically enhanced.
This translated into better use of
nutrients as well.
During this
presentation, I had a
rare (these days) ‘AHA
0-1
moment’. Hopefully,
1-2
this brief article will
2-4
explain the
convergence of issues,
4-6
ideas and technology
6-9
that comprise my ‘AHA
9-12
moment’.
crop available K is concentrated in
the top 2” with most of the soil beyond
4” being well below the attention level
for optimal crop production. Ask
yourself where your crops root system
is actively feeding in the middle of July,
most years after 2-3 weeks of heat.
Phosphorus behaves similarly, as do
other nutrients and soil factors.
Potassium Stratification
Attention Level
Soil Depth
[ Connecting the DOTS for a New Years ‘AHA Moment’ ]
Put PKS here
12-24
0
Much of Canadian
crop production suffers
from a lack of water
for optimal production "DOT 2". A
significant proportion of cropped
acres also suffer from compaction that
is either natural, induced by man or
both "DOT 3". Most soils are rapidly
becoming more nutrient stratified
with immobile nutrients concentrated
in the top few inches while depleted at
depth "DOT 4". An example (Figure 1)
is potassium (K) where in most soils,
especially direct seeded fields, the
32
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
Soil Test K20 ppm
Figure 1. Generalized vertical
distribution of soil test K2O (ppm).
So what if we could connect all these
DOTS and minimize the amount
of man-made compaction with
controlled traffic farming; facilitated
primarily by RTK GPS systems plus
common sense soil fertility; coupled
with intelligent zero-till ripping of soils
with machines that will also inject
nutrients (and soil amendments) to
significant depth? We could fix a
bunch of yield limiting factors in one
go. This is a potential HUGE winner
that deserves significant research
right now straight across the entire
ATACL Network.
Before we go there let’s look at some
background reasoning. While I sat at
the Controlled Farming presentation,
I remembered a set of data from
an old study that I puzzled on years
ago during my Masters studies in an
advanced Soils Course. The data can
be found on page 619 of the textbook,
Soil Fertility and Fertilizers (4th edition)
which was co-edited by Samuel
Tisdale, Werner Nelson and Dr. Jim
Beaton (our newest Senior AgriCoach!). Figure 2 is an adaptation
of this data showing the average
incremental yield increases that could
be attributed to sub-soiling (24%) and
deep placement of P2O5 and K2O
(an additional 20%) yield increase. It
is important to note that this subsoil
was not considered compacted. Put
another way, over 4 years the subsoiled with subsoil PK treatment
grew 112 bu/ac more barley than the
surface fertilizer alone treatment. The
deeply placed fertilizer component
contributed 50 bu/ac more barley
than the sub-soiled only treatment.
with high rainfall
on compacted
soils is prolonged
ponding, which leads
Sub Soiled
to denitrification
Only
and crop drowning
etc. These soils
Sub Soiled
still have the
with Deep PK
stratification issues;
so if we minimize
Topsoil PK
compaction, water
-5
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
can now flow more
Barley Yield Increase (bu/ac) - Average of 4 years
deeply into the soil
and roots can grow
deeper where they
Figure 2. Barley response to subcan more efficiently utilize water and
soiling and subsoil placement of PK
subsoil nutrients.
fertilizer.
Barley Yield Increase from
Sub Soiling & Deep Nutrient Placement
Let’s think about these results for
a few seconds. If you were a plant
breeder and you had a variety that
increased yields a fraction of these
amounts you would, no doubt, be
given the Nobel Prize for your good
works but if you are a farmer or
agronomist who accomplishes this,
you will be met with skepticism.
Now, if we connect these with the
possibility of injecting nutrient to
depth while a low surface disturbance
machine rips apart compaction
zones then shouldn’t we have an
amazing yield boosting system? You
bet! See the green oval at depth in
Figure 1? That’s where we put the
immobile nutrients when we low
surface disturbance rip the field!
Imagine you are a plant suffering from
heat and your roots hit this nutrient
buffet! Remember all the crop growth
stuff K is involved in and think of
the implications. Imagine if there
was P there as well, perhaps a yield
limiting micro (like Cu for wheat) and
maybe a bit of N for the late season
yield/quality push. What else could
go here to get even more synergy?
Depends on the field, but I’m guessing
your brain is whirling around pretty
good by now. How about some S to
create subsoil acid? What might that
do? What else can we think of? I’m
guessing lots!!
Would there be any benefit to an
approach like this in areas that
typically have enough to too much
precipitation? For sure!! How you
say . . . well one of the serious issues
deeply place nutrients/amendments
a 2nd time Yippee!! If you get it right,
you should be able to fix things for
many, many years.
Bottom Line - People around the world
are playing with various aspects of
this. As a Network, we need to start.
Pick a couple of your most challenging
fields. Determine if compaction is an
issue and at what depth(s). Determine
how stratified those fields might
be. Determine what soil physical
and chemical factors are playing a
role. Start gizzing up with precision
GPS and begin thinking about how
controlled traffic farming might work
on your ground. Talk
to your Agri-Coach
about all of this. He/
Conceptual Schematic
She may not know
all the fine details but
remember each AgriCoach is backed by
the strongest Network
P2O5, K2O, S
in North America and
as a Network we can
Cu, Mn, Zn,
confidently tackle this!
Organic material
Ca, Other?
I’m excited about
Down Here
agriculture! I’m excited
about 2010! I ‘m sure
Figure 3. Conceptual representation
you are as well! Thanks so much
of a zero-till ripper capable of placing
for your business! From everyone
nutrients in the rip zone.
at Agri-Trend Agrology, have a very
prosperous 2010!
Now before we all run off and start
building machines to rip the entire
farm we need to think this through.
In order for ripping to work, we need
to know fairly precisely where the
compaction layer(s) reside. Some
of us have rocks to deal with. Some
areas have high Mg issues; others
high Na while other fields have both.
Sandy and clay textures are more
vulnerable/responsive. It’s generally
better to rip in the fall when the soil is
really dry but this can depend on the
soil type. You need to consider the
crop to be grown after ripping. You
need to consider what nutrients or
Elston Solberg, Senior Agri-Coach™
soil amendments should be placed
President; Agri-Trend Agrology Ltd.
at depth and how deep on which field
p. 403.343.8288
and why and how and which products
e. esolberg@agritrend.com
and, and, and . . . You get the picture.
There are many considerations. Each
farm and each field needs to be
evaluated individually. Some fields
may need to be ripped more than
once which gives us an opportunity to
33
Growing Innovations
Finger on the Pulse of Innovation
Ideas continue to transform pulse crop management
By Bill Strautman
Ascochyta blight management on partially resistant
chickpeas
While data on optimum ascochyta blight
management including fungicide timing is available
for susceptible chickpea cultivars, this data has not
yet been generated for the new cultivars with partial
resistance.
To develop disease management strategies for
these cultivars, a project started in Saskatoon in
2008 to evaluate different timing and frequency
of fungicide applications, to assess the efficacy of
different fungicide rotations on ascochyta blight
control.
Experiments were conducted in Saskatoon
and Swift Current by S. Banniza and a team of
researchers using the partially resistant cultivars
CDC Vanguard, CDC Luna and CDC Frontier,
plus the susceptible kabuli chickpea CDC Chico.
Both years of the study started cool and dry,
followed by above average precipitation in July and
August. CDC Frontier and CDC Vanguard had
the lowest ascochyta blight levels and also showed
the lowest responses to fungicide applications,
suggesting that fewer, well-targeted applications
may be sufficient. Evaluation of different fungicide
rotations suggests that rotations of Headline Duo
and Proline or Bravo may provide more effective
control than other rotations.
Storage time affects red lentil processing
The dehulling efficiency and football recovery
of CDC Impact and CDC Robin red lentils
subjected to different postharvest treatments and
stored at 5oC and 25oC were determined after one
34
month and six months of storage. The CDC Robin
variety had better dehulling efficiency and football
recovery after storage compared to CDC Impact
for each of the post harvest treatments and storage
temperatures considered.
It was also noted that the dehulling efficiency and
football recovery of both varieties decreased with
storage time for each of the postharvest treatments
and storage temperatures considered.
The research was done by O. Fadeyi at the U of S
College of Engineering.
Biopesticide for grasshoppers tested in
lentils
An isolate of Metarhizium
anisopliae – 554 - found in
soil samples collected in
southern Alberta, is being
developed to control
grasshoppers for
various prairie
field crops.
Dan Johnson from the University
of Lethbridge showed lab testing of the fungus
provided successful infection and mortality rates,
similar to commercial strains of Metarhizium
anisopliae already available.
Field experiments in Saskatchewan lentil fields
in 2008 resulted in effective grasshopper control
at both 25 and 50 grams/ha of spores, applied by
ground sprayer, using 50 litres/ha of water.
Replicated one hectare plots showed 68.4 to
74.8 percent reduction six days after application
to a growing lentil crop, with initial grasshopper
densities of 5.2 to 5.8 insects per 0.25 sq. m. By day 15, pest
density reductions were 61.2 and 83.4 percent.
Chemical control was faster and superior on day 6, but equal to
the biopesticide by day 15.
Experiments in 2009 included additional field assessments
in pastures, hayfields and on airport runway airfields. Other
tests were conducted to assess environmental safety for other
organisms such as earthworms. A small-scale production system
with a cycle of 15 days was developed, based on experimental
determination of optimum environmental conditions and
nutrients.
Looking for ascochyta blight resistance in perennial chickpea
Breeding improvements for ascochyta blight resistance
in chickpea have been achieved by pyramiding genes that
control blight resistance. But researchers are concerned about
a breakdown of this resistance due to the aggressiveness of the
fungal population found in Saskatchewan.
Related wild species have been used as sources of disease
resistance in many crops, but a previous investigation found no
useful blight resistance in wild annual chickpea species. So a
search was expanded to 34 perennial species of chickpea.
Field experiments at the Crop Development Centre in
Saskatoon in 2008 and 2009, led by Monika Lulsdorf and a team
of researchers, showed that all perennial species had improved
resistance compared to CDC Frontier. This annual variety
scored 6.1 on a scale of 0 to 9 under high disease pressure and
no fungicide application. Three perennial Cicer anatolicum
accessions had average resistance ratings of 1.8 to 2.7.
Many crosses were made between the annual and perennial
species, but only very young hybrid embryos could be obtained.
Full plants could not be regenerated. Trials will continue in an
attempt to improve the hybrid rescue protocol, with the hope of
developing plants to work with.
Developing highly resistant chickpea varieties would reduce
the need for fungicide applications and result in stabilizing yield,
making chickpea a more attractive and less risky crop for growers.
Lentils could reduce human micronutrient malnutrition
Micronutrient malnutrition affects more than 40 percent of
the world’s population, with the greatest concern in south Asia
and Africa. Bert Vandenberg and a group of researchers at the
Crop Development Centre in Saskatoon carried out a study
to determine the potential for iron, zinc, calcium, magnesium,
potassium, manganese and copper biofortification of lentils, to
improve human nutrition.
Micronutrient content in the seeds of nearly 20 varieties of
lentils grown in Saskatchewan was analyzed. The total zinc and
iron concentrations of all the varieties fell within the range of the
recommended daily allowances for human nutrition, from a 100
gram daily serving of dry lentils.
Lentils were also determined to be a good source of
magnesium, potassium, manganese and copper. The researchers
concluded that lentils have great potential as a whole food source
of iron and zinc, plus other micronutrients for people affected by
nutrient deficiencies. They feel this information will be valuable
in future international marketing efforts.
Collecting wild lentil species for developing disease resistance
Genetically diverse material is required to improve crop species
through plant breeding. A project led by Axel Diederichsen
from Ag Canada in Saskatoon, with the aid of researchers
from Ukraine, focused on collecting wild lentil varieties on the
Crimean peninsula in Ukraine.
Due to rapid development and socioeconomic changes, the
natural habitat of many plant varieties in the area are threatened,
putting species at risk.
Three wild species of lentil – L. ervoides, L. nigricans and
L. orientalis – grow in the area. A collection project in 2009
acquired eight separate accessions of L.
ervoides and L. nigricans.
Germplasm of 54 other genera,
mostly wild relatives of other
plants, was also collected. The
seeds will be grown out and
tested for disease resistance
to anthracnose and ascochyta
blight. Seeds will be preserved
and made available to breeders and
researchers for further study.
Breeding chickpeas for IMI tolerance
Limited options for weed control in chickpea, especially
broadleaf weeds, poses great challenges for western Canadian
growers. Identification of germplasm tolerant to imidazolinone
(IMI) herbicides and incorporation of this tolerance into future
varieties will allow better control of broadleaf weeds and form the
basis for an integrated weed management system in chickpea.
Bunyamin Tar’an and a team of researchers at the Crop
Development Centre in Saskatoon are studying the variation of a
diverse amount of chickpea germplasm for tolerance to a mixture
of imazethapyr and imazamox, and to identify germplasm for
potential use in the development of herbicide resistant chickpea
cultivars by conventional breeding methods.
Large differences were identified, with sufficient tolerance to
a mixture of imazethapyr and imazamox to make conventional
breeding for imazethapyr/imazamox tolerance in chickpea
feasible.
35
Storage conditions can impact pea flavour profiles
Researchers at Ag Canada and the Crop Development Centre
in Saskatoon, plus the Canadian International Grains Institute
in Winnipeg, studied the impact of storage conditions on the
flavour profiles of green and yellow peas grown in Saskatchewan.
Changes in flavour profiles were evaluated after six months
of storage at either 4oC, 22oC or 37oC. A significant difference
was observed in the total concentration of flavour compounds,
depending on the storage conditions.
Samples kept at room temperature had the greatest total
concentration of flavour compounds while samples stored at 4oC
had the least. Greater concentrations of aldehydes were observed
in seeds stored at room temperature and 37oC, while higher
concentrations of alcohols and ketones were observed in seeds
kept at 4oC.
As different flavour compounds confer distinct flavour
characteristics to foods, differences in their relative
concentrations could alter the flavour properties of peas.
Aldehydes are formed as a result of oxidation and have a grassy
odour that is considered undesirable in most food products.
These compounds were found in greater amounts in the peas
stored at higher temperatures. Results from this study could lead
to the establishment of improved storage conditions to enhance
the flavour properties of peas.
Nutritional impact of lentils in Sri Lanka
Canadian grown lentils are rich in micronutrients. Researchers
at the Crop Development Centre in Saskatoon, plus at the
USDA, Sri Lanka and the Canadian Light Source in Saskatoon,
also suggest Canadian lentils have low concentrations of
antinutrient factors such as phytic acid. Consumption of these
lentils may improve the nutrient status of healthy children, plus
children suffering from iron and folic acid deficient anemia.
Lentil is a major part of the human diet in Sri Lanka, yet the
country produces no lentils. It imports all its needs from Turkey,
Australia, India, Canada and other countries. The researchers
are assessing iron, zinc, selenium, folic acid and carotenoid
status of healthy and anemic children in Sri Lanka, before and
after feeding Canadian lentils, compared to lentils from other
exporting nations.
If the study determines that Canadian lentils increases the
nutritional status for iron, zinc and selenium, especially in
children and pregnant women who typically have the highest
level of micronutrient deficiencies, it will
provide Canadian lentil producers
an opportunity to help reduce
micronutrient malnutrition and
solidify an excellent market for
this product.
www.agritrend.com/toolshed
Agri-Thoughts CD
a discussion on trends in
agriculture
This CD is a compilation of ideas, opinions and
observations by Agri-Trend CEO, Robert Saik.
Recorded 4 times per year, Rob discusses the
controversial and maybe not so controversial
issues facing today’s agri-business sector.
This is a great way to keep up on the leading
issues in agriculture.
1-9 Yearly Subscriptions
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36
Make
TIGER 50CR® Sulphur/Sulphate
your sulphur choice this spring
TIGER 50CR® Sulphur/Sulphate is a
fertilizer that offers both immediately
available sulphate and slow release
sulphur, to maximize sulphur fertility.
“While ammonium sulphate provides
strong early season availability to
crops, it can be leached when late
season demands are high. An
elemental sulphur application can
take time to begin oxidizing, and
shouldn’t be counted on to provide
early season needs, but it resists
leaching, and remains in the topsoil
to ensure mid and late season
requirements. TIGER 50CR® Sulphur/
Sulphate is ideal, it offers the benefits
of both, and covers both ends of
the growing season,” says Lanny
Fisher, Western Canadian Account
Manager for Tiger-Sul Products.
“Once the soil warms and microbial
activity increases, the Tiger-Sul
sulphur portion begins to release
plant available sulphate. The result
is a continual supply of plant
available sulphate throughout the
growing season, ensuring sulphur
is never depleted,” says Fisher.
“All crops require sulphur in order
to efficiently utilize nitrogen and
fix protein. Low sulphur demand
crops like wheat and barley should
receive application of 10-15 lbs/acre.
High sulphur demand crops like
canola, alfalfa and potatoes, under
high fertility management, should
receive applications greater than
20 lbs/acre per year to adequately
replace the sulphur removed.”
“With adequate sulphur available,
nitrogen utilization is significantly
improved, plus phosphate and
micronutrient uptake are enhanced
by creating a low pH zone around
every sulphur particle.”
Another benefit of using TIGER
50CR® Sulphur/Sulphate because
of its higher analysis is less bulk,
which means more acres applied
between fills, less transportation,
and less storage space needed.
As well, there is less salt and
ammonia effect compared to straight
ammonium sulphate, meaning
higher rates can be placed in close
proximity to the seed without damage.
both
tains
e con
for
ulphat
r
/S
r
u
h
u
h
l Sulp
) Sulp
ementa
50CR(R
".
able el
ty
ad
"TIGER
li
r
bi
aila
d deg
long av
ate an
eason
sulph
ved s
impro
“TIGER 50CR® Sulphur/Sulphate
has a lower salt index, actually 3.4
times less ammonia and salt index
than pure ammonium sulphate,”
says Fisher.
Fisher says the physical form of
makes a great blend that doesn’t
segregate out in transport and
application. There are some crystal
forms of ammonium sulphate
available that can shake out, and
create field misapplications.
Every acre.
Every crop.
Every year.
“TIGER 50CR® Sulphur/Sulphate’s
high analysis means less stopping
and less down time refilling
during a busy seeding season. It
gives producers peace of mind
knowing the sulphur is going to be
accessible and available exactly
when the plant demands it.”
For more information on the
preseason application program
contact
Tiger-Sul Products at 1.877.299.3399
or at www.tigersul.com
Tiger-Sul Products based out of Calgary Alberta Canada has
produced Sulphur based fertilizers since 1984, and is a wholly
owned subsidiary of the H.J. Baker & Bro. Inc. Company. As
the leading degradable sulphur manufacturer in the world
Tiger-Sul produce TIGER 90CR® Sulphur, TIGER 50CR®
Sulphur / Sulphate and various forms of granular TIGER
MICRNONUTRIENTS® fertilizers.
TIGER 50CR® Sulphur is a registered trademark of
Tiger-Sul Products (Canada) Co
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
877.299.3399
Atmore, Alabama, USA
800.239.3647
37
photo: Wikipedia
Port of Churchill
Positioning for a world of opportunities
By Chris Paterson
"... We look forward to
working with it and the
shippers of Board and
non-Board grains to
take full advantage of
the natural benefits
of shipping through
Churchill." - Gary Long,
CEO of OmniTRAX
38
Do you know how Port of
Churchill impacts your farm?
It wasn’t very long ago, the end of the trail
for a bushel of grain produced by a farmer in
the Canadian Prairies was at the local elevator.
After dumping it into the pit, all responsibilities
were with the Canadian Wheat Board, the grain
companies, and the shipping companies. Today,
successful farmers are a lot better informed and a lot
more directly involved with what happens to their
grain after they hand it off.
One interesting success story that Western
Canadian farmers should know about is that of the
Port of Churchill and the Hudson Bay Rail Line.
The port and rail line were opened in 1931 to
facilitate the two way trade of grain, manufactured
goods, mining materials, lumber, and livestock,
as well as to service and supply the northern
communities, and fulfill requirements of Canada’s
defense and sovereignty strategies. The port
was a very busy hub through the 50’s and 60’s,
but throughput declined in the next few decades,
and costs became an issue – to the point where
the viability of the port and the rail line were in
jeopardy.
In 1997, the floundering Port of Churchill
was purchased from the Government of Canada
by OmniTRAX, who was also successful in
purchasing from CN the Hudson Bay Railway
between The Pas and Churchill. They planned a
major renovation and turnaround, and believed
that Manitoba could become a key central freight
hub for North America. It was not only centrally
positioned for east-west movement between
Vancouver and Montreal, but also for north-south
movement between the cost effective Port of
Churchill and a freight corridor that serviced 11
states and extended right down to Mexico City, and
offered efficient access to a market of more than
100 million consumers. . Andrew Glastetter, the
general manager of the Hudson Bay Railway said,
"We believe the transportation system we have
put together provides a seamless transportation
corridor that allows producers a key gateway to the
export market."
The Mid-Continent Freight Corridor
OmniTRAX is one of North America’s largest
private rail management companies, also providing
intermodal, locomotive, terminal, and other
transportation services. Besides the 1287 km
Hudson Bay Railway, it manages 15 other short haul
rail lines in North America, including Carlton Trail
Railway in Saskatchewan. It is actively searching
for more expansion. It is headquartered in Denver,
as part of the very successful privately held Broe
Group.
Pat Broe founded the Broe Group in 1972 as
a real estate investment company in Denver, and
has since led a very successful expansion of the
company into a multibillion dollar corporation.
Although the Broe Group has three separate
divisions – real estate, transportation, and energy –
a closer look reveals the company has learned how
to leverage each of these divisions to support the
other. The real estate holdings are there to provide
a location for manufacturing and energy companies,
which in turn need to bring in raw materials
and send out finished goods with an effective
transportation system. The Broe Group directly
finances and owns assets in all of these categories.
Besides the longer term vision of further
developing the Mid-Continent Freight Corridor,
there were other good reasons why OmniTRAX
was convinced that the Port of Churchill and
Hudson Bay Rail Line offered great opportunity,
more than had been revealed in the past few
decades.
These reasons included:
• The Port of Churchill offered lower rail freight
costs, especially for those wheat growing areas
that were typically in the highest freight zones.
It is closer to 25% of western grain production
than any other port.
• Churchill eliminated the time and significant
cost of having to navigate the Great Lakes and
St. Lawrence Seaway.
• The distance to Europe and Russia was less
than any other Canadian port. Compared to
Thunder Bay, Churchill is 981 nautical miles
closer to Rotterdam, 1447 closer to Murmansk,
1043 closer to Liverpool, and 1998 closer to
Oslo.
• Shipping to the Canadian east coast is more
efficient than railing or trucking or shipping
through the St Lawrence. As well, there are
many arguments involving less highway wear
and tear, less pollution, less traffic accidents,
etc.
• Churchill offered the unique option of a port
facility not owned by a grain company.
• Keeping the port operational would likely
stimulate further development of the northern
mining and tourism industries, as well as
keep the costs lower for servicing northern
populations.
A compelling proposal secured major investment
from both the federal and provincial levels of
government, and upgrades to the rail and port
facilities were done over a period of years, allowing
heavier rail cars to use the tracks, and larger vessels
to use the port.
Today the Port of Churchill is capable of hosting
Panamex sized vessels, can unload 100 rail cars per
day into its 140,000 tonne terminal, at the same
time as it is loading or unloading ships at 1,000
tonne per hour. The port can also unload or load
general cargo, intermodal containers, and tanker
vessels. There is also a 50,000,000 liter tank farm
and distribution system. The Canadian Wheat
Board continues to be the primary customer.
Because the shipping window is in late summer,
prior to harvest, when wheat can be difficult to
source, the Canadian Wheat Board offers farmers a
price premium for wheat stored until the Churchill
delivery window opens up, allowing them to
deliver as much as possible at the more efficient
freight cost. Gary Long, the CEO of OmniTRAX,
stated, "OmniTRAX views its relationship with
the Canadian Wheat Board to be key to providing
producers with a substantial competitive advantage
in the world market. We look forward to working
with it and the shippers of Board and non-Board
grains to take full advantage of the natural
benefits of shipping through
Churchill."
CHURCHILL
PRINCE RUPERT
EDMONTON
VANCOUVER
CALGARY
MONTREAL
WINNIPEG
FARGO
HALIFAX
TORONTO
MINNEAPOLIS
DES MOLNES
KANSAS CITY
DETROIT-WINDSOR
CHICAGO
DALLAS / FORT WORTH
SAN ANTONIO
MONTERREY
GUADALAJARA
MEXICO CITY
39
OmniTRAX has achieved some very significant milestones in
recent years, including:
• In 2007 the port handled its first domestic export trade,
shipping 12,500 tonnes of wheat to Halifax.
• In 2007 the port received its first import trade in seven years,
and the first ever from Russia, a shipment of fertilizer.
• In 2008 there were two shipments of fertilizer from
Kaliningrad, Russia.
• In 2009 there were 529,000 tons of wheat sent to customers
in Brazil, Mexico, Italy, Spain, Nigeria, Ghana, and Sudan.
• There were 29,000 tonnes of cargo delivered to supply
northern communities and industry.
• The theory of the “northwest passage” as an alternate route
to the Panama Canal was proven viable.
The Port of Churchill still has the majority of its ships showing
up empty to pick up grain. It is only when two-way deliveries
SOIL CARE SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL PTY. LTD.
IMPROVED YIELDS
& HEALTHIER SOIL
become the norm that this port will thrive instead of just survive,
but given the recent milestones, OmniTRAX is on the right path.
Mike Ogborn, the president of the Churchill Gateway
Development Corp. said, "One of the keys to the success of
the port and the railway has been the invaluable support of
the federal and Manitoba governments. The public/private
partnership among the governments and OmniTRAX has made
it possible to undertake important improvements to the port and
the railway to better serve the producers."
Former Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Lloyd Axworthy leads
the Churchill Gateway Development Corporation, a partnership representing both private and government interests, who’s
mandate is to market the “Churchill Advantage” and establish
consistent two-way freight deliveries. "When the government
agreed to transfer ownership of the port from the government,
we looked for a company with a strong entrepreneurial spirit
that could grow the business and make it sustainable. We chose
OmniTRAX and our decision has proven to be the right one – it
has made great strides in both improving the infrastructure and
attracting new business" said Dr. Axworthy.
Frequent trade missions to Russia have resulted in a commitment from Moscow to further develop the Arctic Bridge between
Murmansk and Churchill, which has helped facilitate the first few
incoming shipments, and this is expected to grow in future years.
A.B.N. 29 075 828 947
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by every day
farming activities.
Agrowplow maximizes seeding performance
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oil seeds and pasture renovation.
RECTIFYING SOIL
COMPACTION
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40
Step 2: Re-establish plants with strong,
deep root systems to rebuild and hold
the soil structure, bulk and porosity in a
healthier state - preferably using direct
drilling or minmum tillage techniques.
Leading the way to prosperity
through soil care.
For more information please visit us at
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Step 3: Use farming practices which
minimize soil cultivation, soil inversion
and traffic in wet soils.
AGROW
- a new fungicide with a difference
A unique new product from AgraQuest in California now being marketed by UAP
Canada, Serenade® is a biological fungicide now registered in Canada. It’s a
patented broad-spectrum protectant fungicide based on a naturally occurring soil
borne strain of Bacillus subtilis (Strain QST713).
“Serenade is a very exciting fungicide tool for Canadian growers. It controls
sclerotinia in canola, white mould and brown spot in beans, and botrytis and
sclerotinia in legumes. Additionally it controls a wide variety of important diseases in
vegetables and fruits like tomatoes, berries, grapes and cucurbits,” explains Garth
Render, Marketing Manager with UAP Canada.
“Serenade is very compatible with other pesticide and nutrient formulations, and
the fact that it is completely exempt from MRL tolerances means growers can use
it on any crops they are producing for export. With all the benefits of Serenade,
AgraQuest and UAP will continue to work together to add more uses to help North
American growers increase crop quality and yield” says Render.
Defend against fungicide resistance
“One of the most important benefits of Serenade compared to previously available
synthetic fungicides is the product's multiple modes of action, which provide a
very effective defense against the development of fungicide resistance” explains Dr.
Denise Manker, VP of Global Product Development with AgraQuest.
“With four different modes of activity, resistance to Serenade will be extremely
difficult to develop. Plus Serenade is completely unique, sharing no modes of action
with any other fungicides.”
Four activity mechanisms
1. Fungicidal effects:
The beneficial bacteria in Serenade
work as tiny factories, pumping
out secondary metabolites to control
disease-causing fungi, and their
spores. One group of these
metabolites – lipopeptides - attack
and rupture fungal cell membranes.
The lipopeptides in Serenade are
among the most potent membrane
disruptors known today.
2. Bactericidal effects:
Besides antifungal properties,
Serenade also produces antibacterial metabolites which attack
bacterial pathogens, which can
make a small problem worse with
secondary infections.
3. Plant defenses:
Lipopeptides also stimulate the
plant's natural defense mechanisms.
This process is called induced
resistance. For instance, if you were
to only apply Serenade to the bottom
two leaves of a plant, the plant
would protect itself as if a pest was
attacking the whole plant, resulting
in disease control appearing on the
upper leaves, where no Serenade
was applied. In this scenario, the
Serenade would not have moved
to the upper leaves, only the plant's
natural response.
4. Plant modulation:
Serenade produces plant growth
signalers, like 2,3 butane-diol and
auxin, which stimulate plant growth,
chlorophyll production, and vigor
through the plant's natural stimulus
methods. A healthier more vigorous
plant will defend itself better.
The large (raisin like) orb is the fungal
cell. The small capsules are Bacillus subtilis
QST713, the active ingredient in Serenade. A
fungal cell normally invades the plant by using
its appressorium, the flattened extension at the
top of this fungal cell, to push a minute infection
peg into the plant’s cells. In this image, the
appressorium is ruptured by Serenade. You
can see the Serenade spores have moved
inside the appressorium of the fungal cell. This fungal cell will desiccate and die. No residue restrictions
Serenade is exempt from any maximum
residue level (MRL) restrictions, meaning
growers who are marketing their crops
into Japan, Korea, the EU or the USA can
be confident that Serenade will never
trigger a rejection, which can happen
with synthetic fungicides.
In fact because Bacillus subtilis is
naturally and commonly occuring with
no adverse health effects, Serenade
can actually be applied preharvest to
provide postharvest control of fungi and
bacteria for fruit and berries.
Serenade is to be used as a preventative, and works best before pest pressures are developing, with a 7-14 day
control window depending on weather.
“Organic growers are also very excited
to see this product is available for their
use, as it meets all the criteria for OMRI
and NOP” says Render.
Serenade has been proven in field trials
across Canada, as well as 1500 trials
outside of Canada, and is a proven
performer.
Serenade is widely available. Just ask
your local crop input retailer or UAP
representative.
41
Agri-Trend Network News
Warren K. Bills
President and Geo-Coach™
Simon Knutson M.Sc. GIS
Agri-Trend Geo-Coach™
Justin Cleaver
Agri-Trend Geo-Coach™
p. 403.398.5835 c. 403.874.3848
e. wbills@agritrend.com
p. 204.750.9071
e. sknutson@agritrend.com
c. 204.573.1171
e. jcleaver@agritrend.com
Warren Bills grew up on his family grain
farm near Marwayne, Alberta and after
obtaining his B.Sc. in Plant Science from
the University of Alberta went on to become involved in the application of Precision Agriculture products and services
for Canadian farmers. With field experience at research facilities, crop input
locations, and equipment dealerships,
Warren has a passion for being able to
bring some of the basics of agronomy
together with the technology to develop
well balanced precision ag programs
that can be utilized by farmers. Simon Grew up in the town of Clevedon, England. He graduated from
Bournemouth University with a Bachelor
of Science in Environmental Sciences,
and went on to obtain a Master of Science in Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) from the University of Ulster. After
graduating, Simon spent several years
teaching English in Japan and South
Korea, during which time he met his wife,
Meghan, who is from Elm Creek, Manitoba. He has travelled extensively, and has
visited more than 30 countries to date.
Upon moving from Japan to Canada, he
started his own business to provide GIS
services to the agriculture industry in
western Canada, and has been working
with Agri-Trend to deliver and develop
the Precision Management Process™. As
an Agri-Trend Geo-Coach, Simon brings
expertise in a variety of precision agriculture technologies, including Precision
Drainage, Variable Rate Fertility, Land
Survey, Data Analysis, Satellite & Aerial
Imagery, Yield Data Editing, and Map
Creation. Simon now lives in St. Claude,
Manitoba
Justin grew up on a farm outside of
Carberry Manitoba. After graduating
he attempted a few different careers
from welding to trucking and
eventually fallowed an opportunity to
attend College. He attended GISET
(Geographic Information System
Environmental Technology) from
Assiniboine Community College in
Brandon Manitoba, and graduated in
the spring of 2008. This was a 2 year
diploma degree exploring different
environmental mapping technologies
and an introduction into precision
agriculture. Straight out of college Justin
worked for Agriculture and Agri-Food
helping with a pasture management
research project. From there he went on
to work for a private survey company
working with mainly with RTK GPS
systems. This past experience helped
him greatly with the transition to Sure
Growth Technologies and Agri-Trend.
Justin started his career with Agri-Trend back in April of 2009 and has had the
opportunity to work with producers to on
various mapping endeavours. Weather
it is a variable rate fertility prescription
or a variable rate fungicide application
map, he loves the science and principles
of precision agriculture and hopes to
share his knowledge and experience
with the producers of today.
In 2006, Warren connected with the
AGRI-TREND Network and was involved
in the development of Agri-Trend’s Precision Management Process. As President
of Agri-Trend Geo Solutions Inc., Warren
will use his passion to grow a Network
of Geo-Coaches who share the same
passion and skill set, and who will work
beside the shoulders of Agri-Coaches,
Retailers, and farm customers to “make
this precision farming stuff a whole lot’a
fun and a whole lot’a sense”. Warren currently sits on the board of
the Canadian Consulting Agrologist
Association (CCAA) and is an articling
agrologist with the Alberta Institute of
Agrologists (AIA). Ron Curtis
Agri-Trend™ Network Manager
Agri-Trend Agrology Ltd.
c. 204.476.6521
e. rcurtis@agritrend.com
42
Ron started as an Agri-Coach with AgriTrend in 2003. He works primarily with
annual crops and the development of
manure management plans, to meet the
Manitoba Government regulations.
Ron brings 32 years of agricultural
experience to Agri-Trend™; 15 years with
Simplot Canada (both wholesale and
retail); 2 years with U.G.G.; 8 years with
Imperial Oil bulk agency; independently
for 4 years before joining Agri-Trend. He
specializes in liquid fertilizers, custom
application of both fertilizer and crop
herbicides, and crop planning.
In this new role as Agri-Trend™ Network
Manager, Ron will continue providing
business and sales support to the
existing Agri-Coach Network in addition
to recruiting new Agri-Coaches into the
network.
Agri-Trend Network News
James Gusa
Data Programmer
Murray Hanch
Agri-Trend™ Associate
Sheena McKelvie
Agri-Trend™ Data Corp
Webb’s Crop Service Ltd
Webb’s Crop Service Ltd
c. 403.451.9045
e. jgusa@agritrendcom
c. 780.853.1005
p. 403.853.6565
e. mhanch@agritrend.com
c. 780.853.6565
e. smckelvie@agritrend.com
James Gusa grew up on an acreage
near Calgary, AB. He moved to
Edmonton to study at the University of
Alberta where he acquired a Bachelors
Degree in Science with a specialization
in Computing Science.
Murray grew up in Manville, Alberta. He
started with Alberta Pool at Vermilion in
1992 where he remained for 16 years in
sales, experiencing the mergers of Agricore, Agricore United, and finally Viterra.
He has spent the past 2 1/2 years with
Webbs Crop Services in Vermilion as a
Sales and Agronomy Representative. He
and his wife Jan along with 3 daughters
reside south of Manville, raising sheep
on their farm. Murray has recently joined
Agri-trend as a sales associate and
looks forward to working with everyone.
Sheena McKelvie grew up in Prince
George, BC on a cow calf cattle
operation. She has her level “C”
welding ticket that she acquired after
high school in BC at CNC. From
there she attended Lakeland College
in Vermilion, AB and took the Crop
Technology Diploma and Agriculture
Business diploma as well. She has had
summer employment throughout college
with chemical and seed companies such
as Monsanto and BASF. She graduated
in April 2009, and started her position
as a Sales Agronomist at Webb’s Crop
Services in mid December 2009. She
is excited to learn with Agri-Trend and
share her gained knowledge with her
growers.
During his time at the University of
Alberta, James developed a keen
interest towards developing web
based applications as well as gaining
experience in various fields including
Machine Learning and Software
Engineering.
Before coming to Agri-trend, James
worked at the Alberta Ingenuity Center
for Machine Learning where he
developed a system which aided in the
analysis of mammograms and helped
Radiologists diagnose breast cancer.
James enjoys his free time by
participating in a wide variety of sports
and enjoys reading about the latest
technology developments. Having just
returned to Calgary, he is excited to
contribute to the success of the Agritrend platform and hopes to improve his
abilities as a Software Developer.
Dylan Helgeland
Camrose Crop Management
Careers with
The Agri-Trend Network
c. 780.678.0520
e. dhelgeland@agritrend.com
www.AgriTrend.com/careers
Dylan grew up and still living in Camrose, AB. Has been working for Andrukow Group Solutions in Camrose for 7
years and is currently a sales associate.
He graduated from Lethbridge College
with a Management Diploma in ’08 and
obtained his Agronomy Certificate from
Olds College in ’09. Dylan is looking
forward to being a part of the Agri-Trend
Network.
We are looking for:
Agri-Coaches™ – people who are
passionate about production agriculture
Carbon-Coaches™ – professional
people who want to help farmers
understand the new carbon economy
Market-Coaches™ – those keeners
who love helping farmers develop grain
marketing strategies
Geo-Coaches™ – technology junkies
who can help farmers “geek-up” to the
Geo age
Tara Gordon
Agri-Trend Agri-Coach™
Clearbrook Grain
c. 778.808.7918
p. 604.859.1195
e. tgordon@agritrend.com
Tara Gordon attained her Bachelor of
Science in Biochemistry from U.B.C.
She has worked as a field man for
a local fertilizer company for three
years and has been an independent
consultant for one year. Her crop
specialties include Cane Berries and
Forage. When she is not at work, she
enjoys downhill skiing, mountain bike
riding, camping, canoeing, and hiking.
43
Think twice
before you tank mix fungicides with herbicides
By Bill Strautman
Applying fungicides
too early may
compromise yield
and grain filling
potential in cereals
Kelly Turkington
44
While tank mixing fungicides with herbicides
may appear to be a convenient one-pass operation
for weed and disease control in cereals, Kelly
Turkington, a research scientist with Ag Canada at
Lacombe, AB, says farmers may not be happy with
the end result.
“The role of fungicides is protecting healthy plant
tissue to maintain yield. They don’t rescue a crop
already heavily diseased. You can’t fix damaged
plant tissue. Typically, you need to apply a fungicide
before extensive disease develops,” says Turkington.
“Another aspect when using fungicides is you
need to apply it to the tissues you want to protect
and that are the most critical for yield and grain
filling. Most products do not move from one leaf to
another.”
“The final concern is that these products are
only effective for two to four weeks, depending on
weather conditions.”
While a number of fungicides used for cereal leaf
disease management are systemic, movement is
typically limited to within a leaf and not between
leaves. So a fungicide needs to be applied directly to
the leaves important for grain filling. Protection of
the upper canopy leaves should be the primary goal.
“The critical leaves for yield and grain filling
in cereals are the top two leaves in wheat – the
flag and the second leaf down. About 43 percent
of the yield is attributable to the flag leaf and 23
percent to the second leaf down. Even the green ear
tissue contributes to yield and grain filling,” says
Turkington.
“In barley it’s a bit of a different situation. The
flag leaf is somewhat less important – it’s really the
second and third leaf down that are most important,
as well as the leaf sheath itself and the ear for grain
filling.”
Because of the importance of these leaves, the
recommended stage of fungicide application is
around flag leaf emergence, or between the start of
stem elongation until half the head had emerged.
Turkington says if farmers are considering tank
mixing fungicides and herbicides, there’s a few
things to keep in mind.
“If we’re spraying a herbicide at the three-leaf
stage, we’ll see benefits from the fungicide on any
part of the plant where there’s no infection and
they’re still healthy. Unfortunately, any areas with a
disease infection won’t have any control and those
will continue to contribute to disease spread as that
crop progresses through later growth stages,” he
says.
“After an application, once you have new leaf
tissue produced, that fungicide is not going to
move to that new leaf tissue, so you won’t see any
protection there.”
“If you’re looking at tank mixing a fungicide and
herbicide and delaying the application to a later
growth stage – perhaps the five or six leaf stage
– you may be compromising your level of weed
management.”
That could mean ending up with the worst of
both worlds – reduced weed control and a fungicide
application that doesn’t protect the leaves most
important for filling and yield.
Turkington says Ag Canada research at Lacombe,
Beaverlodge and Melfort showed that net blotch
reduction in barley was most consistently observed
in Tilt treatments applied at the flag leaf stage or at
heading.
Applications at the two- to three-leaf stage
did not provide as consistent a decrease in leaf
disease severity or increase in yield, kernel weight
and plumpness, compared to a flag-leaf stage
application.
Turkington also suggests avoiding multiple
fungicide applications.
“This relates to fungicide resistance. It’s not a
huge issue in cereal leaf diseases yet, but if you
put a fungicide on at the herbicide stage, then go
back in and put it on at flag leaf emergence, you’re
increasing the potential to select for fungicideresistant strains of that pathogen that you’re trying
to control.”
High Tech Red Neck
Easy way to create new Contacts in Outlook.
In this issue, I want to highlight some on-line tools which are
not only efficient but easy to use.
AND if you are on the business network Linkedin,
there is an additional tool you can use to capture
address and contact information from the “body”
of an e-mail...this tool is called “Grab”. You simple
highlight the data in the e-mail body and hit Grab.
Entering address information into Outlook to create a new
contact is a laborious process.
Wouldn’t it be cool if the work could happen automatically?
What if you could just point at an e-mail and all the
information about the person (e-mail address, cell number,
address, name, position, company) could be grabbed and
shoved into a new contact? What if you could just “gwabbit”.
www.gwabbit.com
www.linkedin.com
Your High Tech Red Neck!
It ' s E ASY
I found “Gwabbit” on line, downloaded it into my Outlook
and it works really well. When I get an e-mail from a new
person, I just click on the e-mail and hit the “Gwabbit” button
and poof, a new contact is created. I can check to see if
the information is accurate and upon closing “Gwabbit” will
check to see if the contact is not already in my list...if it is, then
I can choose to update my old contact with the additional
information or I can save it as a completely new contact.
1. Download gwabbit into Outlook
2. Highlight the email
3. Click gwabbit
4. Verify data
5. Click Save and "poof" a new contact
Tools
For
Growth
r
Visit ou l Shed for
oo
Trend T ntial Tools
sse
E
re
o
m
dgets
a
G
and
If you are looking for specialized information or agronomic gadgets,
check out The Agri-Trend Tool Shed. We have a good selection of
hard-to-find devices that can enhance in-field efficiency. Everything
from agronomic textbooks, to videos and CD to weather stations, soil
samplers, to measuring devices…. check it out!
Soil Probe Cleaner
pH Probe
Cleans JMC standard
sampling tubes quickly and
thoroughly. Minimizes effort
needed to extract samples.
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sampling and corrosion
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A great device for in-field pH testing is the fully
redesigned 6" ISFET pH Probe with a new narrower
3/16" point which is great for small plug trays and
causes less root disturbance. The Improved sensor
design allows for sampling on the side and prolongs
probe life.
Soil Probe
Open-sided for easy
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Both Wet and Dry Soil
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version sample diameter is
0.688 inches. Dry version
sample diameter is0.75
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The IQ 150 permits instant, accurate measurement of
pH in soil media as well as water or nutrient solutions.
Use this portable meter for field work, food testing,
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The IQ 150's tough, stainless steel probestores dry. A
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45
Watch for Group 2
carryover this year
By Bill Strautman
Drought areas
from 2009 may
pose a higher
risk of damage to
vulnerable crops
46
“This becomes a hot topic every five or six years,
after there’s been a drought. Herbicide carryover is
unpredictable. Soil moisture content and temperature are critical factors for microbial degradation of
herbicides,” says Eric Johnson, a weed researcher at
Ag Canada’s Scott Research Farm.
“The high risk conditions for carryover seem to
be when you apply a herbicide and have a dry July
and August with little breakdown. Then the following spring you have a dry May followed by a heavy
rainfall in June when the crop is just coming up.”
Tracy Preete, a Senior Agri-Coach with AgriTrend Agrology based in Lumsden SK, agrees.
“Depending on the year and the growing
conditions, the severity will increase or decrease.
But every year, there will generally be some cases of
herbicide carryover.”
Herbicide products typically break down through
microbial, chemical or photodecomposition. But
organic matter, pH, soil texture, moisture level and
precipitation can have a significant effect on the
speed they break down.
“Despite the fact that some products are
supposed to be short lived in the soil, Canadian
environmental conditions can restrict the
breakdown,” says Ieuan Evans, a Senior Agri-Coach
based in Spruce Grove AB.
“This is not North Carolina or Missouri, where
the temperature is 50 or 60 degrees all year round
and they get brief winters. Products in the US can
break down four or five times faster than they can in
the icebox we call Canada. We have seven or eight
months of cold soil and those products sit there,
despite the fact the product is supposed to be shortlived in the soil.”
All three agrologists say it’s important to know
what rates were applied and if you followed the crop
rotation guidelines. The labels are all very specific.
“A lot of the residual products, like Everest,
Odyssey and Pursuit, there are more than
just normal cropping guidelines. There are
caveats, warnings and restrictions beyond basic
recommendations,” says Preete.
“Everest includes moisture levels, 10-year average
rainfall numbers, soil pH and organic matter
plus other concerns that can impact the level of
carryover.”
With the imi products like Odyssey and
Pursuit, microbial activity is the main breakdown
mechanism, but soil pH and dry conditions can
affect that speed.
To add confusion to the mix, some products
break down quicker in high pH soils, while others
break down quicker in low pH soils. So knowing
your chemicals is critical when trying to identify
potential carryover issues.
Preete says that for spring 2009, a lot of chatter
involved Pursuit and Odyssey carryovers. The imi
products are a concern in low pH, low organic
matter, drought situations, while sulfonylureas are
a concern in the high pH, low organic matter dry
conditions.
“Within fields, there are more places where
carryover is prone to showing up. Sometimes that’s
knolls, sometimes that’s depressions. So there can
be differences across the same field, depending on
organic matter and pH. There’s also differences at
different depths – there can be variability within the
soil profile,” he says.
Evans recalls western Canadian farmers’
experiences with Sundance.
“Sundance was phenomenal. But it was getting
used every second year and it was building up,
especially in high pH soils. In many regions of the
prairies, one of the biggest yield limiting factors,
next to moisture, is soil residual herbicides. It’s
there and you need to be aware of it,” he says.
In spring 2009, Evans was in a field of winter
wheat that looked about half as good as it should.
“What happened was in the spring before, the
farmer had used Pursuit on peas. If you look at
the recropping recommendations, you don’t seed
winter wheat at the end of August, after harvesting
peas in mid-August, when that field had Pursuit
applied to the pea crop that spring. The Pursuit is
still there,” he says.
“The farmer thought it was the cold, or winter
kill, but it was actually herbicide residue. In this
case, the company was not liable because he
shouldn’t have seeded wheat so soon after the
Pursuit.”
“I’ve looked at farms in some of the best land in
Alberta and there’s a heck of a mess with Group 2
carryover. Some plants are extremely sensitive to
certain products. You can put Tordon down at half
an ounce an acre and sunflowers are still sensitive to
it four years later.”
A lot of the carryover damage symptoms can be
confused with things like sulfur deficiency or other
plant growth issues. It’s important to know what
carryover damage symptoms are at the different
stages of the affected crop.
“You need to identify the symptoms for the
product in question, at the various crop stages, such
as the cotyledon, seedling and bud stages in canola.
You want to identify clearly what those symptoms
are in that crop at those specific stages,” says Preete.
“To help identify problems, it helps to use treated
and non-treated areas of the field, to compare.
Around power poles, triangles or irregular shapes
in the field, where the herbicide wasn’t applied. You
have to have areas in the field that were not treated,
to make that comparison in the field.”
Having complete historical field records for a
number of years back can help understand field
response, as well as how crop potential might be
compromised.
“Past use of pesticides, fertilizer inputs, crop
yields and other information can help indicate the
field potential for crop growth and yield if a claim
is to be made against a chemical manufacturer.
Seeding dates, annual precipitation and such is all
important before making a claim,” says Preete.
He suggests if there’s a problem, go in with an
open mind and make some observations first.
“Don’t go in with conclusions already made.
Make observations, go through the proper steps,
follow an action plan to get the ultimate conclusion
at the end. Scout the entire field before focusing in
on the specific problem areas,” says Preete.
“Document the observations with notes,
photographs, images and such. But avoid laying the
blame until you’ve followed all the proper steps.
Document the injury symptoms, including the
extent and severity.”
He says witnesses are really important and
a third party assessment can be useful.
Independent crop protection labs with
disease specialists and professionals
who can identify herbicide injury
symptoms carry a lot of weight in a
claim.
“They may not be in the field, but they
can write reports describing the findings
they make. They’ll often say things like ‘the
bending or twisting is consistent with Group 4
injury’. That report is fairly simple, but it carries a lot
of weight in tying symptoms together,” says Preete.
“In some cases the crop needs to be monitored
through the season, to gather information as the
crop progresses through the season. It’s useful if
you can find symptoms in non-target areas, like
weed species or plants in a ditch or in a fence row
between two fields.”
If farmers have proceeded through all the necessary
steps and feel they do have a herbicide carryover
issue, the next step is to prove the product is actually
in the soil. That’s where a bioassay comes in.
“Estimating yield loss is best done at harvest
time. That’s when the environmental impact has had
its effect on the plants,” says Preete.
“If possible, use the same sites where you did the
bioassay for yield measurements. You want to link
the data together as much as possible. Square metre
yield data is what should be used, to establish a crop
loss estimate.”
“Field details are important. Document what
the yield potential of that field is. At some point,
you have to show there’s been a loss, show what
the potential actually was, have fertility program
records, deal with disease and insect pressure and
any other factors that could impact yield.”
47
Testing for residual herbicides
Evans says at this point, some farmers want to do a chemical
assay.
“But a chemical assay costs a hell of a lot more money, and it
just tells you it’s there. It doesn’t say if it’s doing anything. You can
do a chemical assay for Roundup, but in many instances it’s not
doing a thing to the plants above the ground. So it sounds good,
but it’s very expensive,” says Evans.
Johnson agrees that farmers can do a chemical analysis, but it
really doesn’t tell you what’s bioavailable.
“It gives you numbers but it’s not helpful. There’s little work
correlating ppm to crop injury,” he says.
A bioassay is often mentioned on herbicide labels, before
recropping is recommended. To run a proper bioassay, Evans says
he needs about four soil sample bags worth of soil. He then grows
about ten crops in the soil to assess any residues.
But bioassays aren’t necessary foolproof, either.
can happen numerous times through a growing season.”
Johnson says looking back is the best way we can predict a
problem in the upcoming year.
“One area of concern might be Odyssey applied in 2008 and
with canola or mustard in 2010. Even Solo applied in 2009 in dry
conditions, we can get some carryover,” he says.
“Infinity has had some carryover issues in the brown soil
zones of Saskatchewan. The issue was on field pea 12 months
after application. The most damage was on upslopes and eroded
knolls. Some was moderate and some was severe. Bayer is
analyzing their data, but they’re sticking with their registration
right now,” says Johnson.
“With Everest, Curtail and Infinity, the only concerns would be
with field pea.”
What’s the risk of Odyssey applied in 2008 to cause injury to
canola in 2010? Johnson says he has seen had issues with that at
Scott (see Table 1).
Table 1 – Year one and year two precipitation can have an effect on canola injury two years after applying Odyssey.
Year Odyssey
Applied
Year canola
grown
Precip in year
of Odyssey
Application
Precip one year
following Odyssey
Application
Precip in year canola
grown (2 yrs after
Odyssey)
Canola visual injury Canola yield (%
rating (%)
of untreated
check)
1996
1998
above 132%
below 74%
below 46%
46
23
1997
1999
below 74%
below 46%
above 118%
70
70
1998
2000
below 46%
above 118%
above 107%
5
100
1999
2001
above 118%
above 107%
below 63%
2
100
Source: Scott Research Farm
“We did some work on greenhouse bioassays and ended
up with too many situations where there was no injury in the
bioassay but unacceptable injury in the field,” says Johnson.
“Jeff Schoenau has developed a mustard root bioassay that’s
pretty good with Everest, but we haven’t tested it enough with
other products to see how well it predicts injury in the field.”
A limitation of these bioassays is that residual carryover is not
consistent across a field and the injury level can vary depending
on landscape position.
“In one case, Ally carryover on lentil was more prominent on
upper slope positions with a high soil pH. Yet Pursuit provided
more prominent carryover injury on canola in lower slope
positions. So it’s difficult to obtain a soil sample that represents an
entire field,” says Johnson.
So testing soil for residual herbicides to predict potential crop
injury has limitations.
“Clay, organic matter and pH are important, depending on
the compound and how the herbicide absorbs. A product like
Reglone has a long half-life in the soil. It’s persistent, but not bioavailable. If you were to test for Reglone residues you would detect them a year after. They’re just not bioavailable. They’re bound
to soil colloids and they can’t injure the crop,” says Johnson.
“In dry years, herbicides become tightly bound to soil colloids
and they’re not available for microbial breakdown. It has to be
in the soil solution. If rain comes along and washes it back into
solution, that’s when it can damage the crop. This is reversible and
48
Drought or dry conditions can mean different things to farmers
in different regions. Johnson says it’s an arbitrary figure, but it’s
based on discussions with various companies.
“We think if you’re between 100 and 150 mm of growing
season precipitation, the risk of carryover is high,” he says.
Johnson says based on 2009 climate data he’s reviewed, he feels
there’s a high potential for herbicide carryover in east-central
Alberta and parts of the Peace River area (see Table 2).
Table 2 – Risk of herbicide carryover in Alberta for 2010
Location
Percent of long-term
precipitation
Herbicide Carryover
Risk
Consort
45%
Moderate-high
Oyen
90%
Low
Stettler
48%
Moderate-high
Beaverlodge
69%
Moderate-high
Peace River
53%
High
Valleyview
44%
High
Lacombe
65%
Low-moderate
Edmonton
42%
Moderate-high
Lethbridge
87%
Low
Medicine Hat
124%
Low
Source: Eric Johnson, Scott Research Station
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We’re always thinking about the future, and we know some of the most important developments in the industry are the
innovations being made in Precision Farming. That’s why we’re excited to introduce our newest addition to the group,
AGRI-TREND Geo Solutions Inc. With cutting edge technology and a superior process in place, an AGRI-TREND GeoCoach™ is now standing by to help you reach even further and find more ways to grow than ever before.
AGRI-TREND. Endless Ways to Grow™
PM 40027612
Issue 006 | March/April 2010
$6.95
High-Tech Red Neck 45
Growing Innovations 34

READY, SET...GEO! 04 CANTERRA SEEDS 14

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